Angeliska Gazette » ADVENTURES

The Museum of Ephemerata – Underground

Angeliska — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:35:05 +0000

We recently took a trip deep into the bowels of the earth to visit our dear
friends Scott and Jen Webel at their amazing new exhibit of cthonic mysteries.
I remember back when I was still living in New Orleans, someone told me about
this strange museum that had opened up in East Austin. While curiously perusing
The Museum of Ephemerata’s website, I had a premonition that I get sometimes
when seeing (or reading, or listening to) someone’s work for the first time – that sure
feeling, or spark of intuition that we will one day meet and become friends. Katrina blew
me back here, and it wasn’t long after that that I visited the Museum for the first time.
It was for the opening of their Machines exhibit, and looking around at all the assorted
oddlings congregated in their front yard turned foyer, I knew that I’d found some kin.
Fairy lights flickered in the tall reeds growing out of a clawfoot bathtub, and the fig trees
made a ersatz screen for found footage from abandoned science reels. A theremin warbled,
and the first tour filed out, and the next group of us prepared to enter the mysterious museum.
The number of strange objects the curators manage to cram into the tiny half of their house that
they’ve converted into the museum is impressive. Even more impressive is their dedication to
creating these wonderful rotating shows, and the enormously entertaining personal tours that
they provide to the public. If you’re in Austin, and you’ve not seen it for yourself, go check out their latest
show Underground while it’s still up – I promised you will leave very charmed and informed!

From the Ephemerata site:
This Museum exhibition is an earthquake that rends the ground to expose the UNDERGROUND.
A hole opens up, and we are walking down into the damp dark unknown. Descend into our show-cave
through normally hidden strata! Beneath our city is a crowded metropolis of graves, pipes, cables, tunnels,
sewers, and landfills, and as we travel down past the aquifer, a glowing lake of magma! The mysterious
corridors of our subterranean journey branch off into political undergrounds, the subconscious, and the
Underworld — lair of monsters, land of the dead. By spelunking through these passages, we come to learn
that humans are strange creatures like earthworms, ceaselessly dedicated to the circulation of vast undergrounds!
The earthquake of industrialized humans has reversed the strata of land and sky such that what was underground
has become our atmosphere. Please watch your head for low-hanging rocks.

UNDERGROUND will be open for tours through November.
Learn about the body as ambulatory geological formation,
explore a Crystal Cavern, and see things dug up in our yard!

The Museum is open Thursdays (4-7pm) and Saturdays (1-4pm).
We are also open for appointments — call 320-0566
or email mnae@mnae.org for availability.
$4 suggested donation

Beware the wasps at the entrance! Behold their marvelous architecture!

A panoply of stone gnomes are there to greet you when you arrive. I think they might bite.

A new addition to the Ephemerata family has been created this year: baby Kai, who is a player piano virtuoso!
We loaned them the piano a while back for their Wondrous Instruments show, and they’ve very kindly kept it
for us. I fear we’re going to have to figure out what to do with it soon! In keeping with the them for the show,
it plays “There’s a Goldmine in the Sky” – “Take your old time mule / I know you’re growing lame /
You’ll pasture in the stars / When we make that claim” Sad songs for desperate miners!

Enter the crystal cavern – but watch out for the troglodytes!

Some excellent mineral specimens – including the “dubious minerals” – Pyrite, Citrine, and Chrysocolla.

Some Civil War relics, old bones and blood-stained dice. Flotsam buried in ancient battlefields.

We also lent a Tailless whip scorpions from our collection, though I have no photo of the actual article,
the beautifully done guidebook illustrates the beastie. I’m not disturbed by spiders at all, but these guys
are actually quite horrifying to behold! They are extremely intelligent, and have developed brain stems.

The plastic descendent of stereoscopic viewers – a 3-D viewmaster depicting Carlsbad Caverns

In the Impermanent Collection you can view this death-defying feat rendered in ceramic!

Ephemerata Gardens out back are lush and overgrown with sunflowers and fig-trees. A bunny lives there.

As well as some very impressive spiders! Arachnophobes, I apologize for the spider-surplus:
they just seem to keep popping up everywhere I look, and I’ve always seen them as very good omens.

I want to go here very badly! I love caves and their beautiful stone formations so much.
We are lucky to have some really excellent ones here in Texas. Imagine how many are
undiscovered, or on private property? It’s our fantasy to have a subterranean nightclub
one day. We have dreams of excavating under our house and digging down. Oddly enough,
a guy in our neighborhood did just that – this 70 year old man dug 30 feet down below
his house, by hand! Just brought out buckets of dirt, one by one until he had created
three underground levels! Pretty impressive. Now the City is filling it all up with concrete.

“The magnificent underground cave system traditionally called Reed Flute Cave
and known today as the Palace of Natural Art lies beneath the city of Guilin, China,
and is over 750 feet (240 meters) long. The first recorded visits to the cave took place
over 1,000 years ago during China’s Tang Dynasty. Artificial lighting is used to enhance
the stunning rock formations in the cave, which has been officially open for visitors since
1962. One of the largest parts of the cave system is the Crystal Palace of the Dragon King,
which can hold up to 1,000 people and was used as an air raid shelter during World War II.
The grotto features a solitary stalagmite that resembles a human being –
it’s said that a visiting poet attempted to write about the beauty that
greeted his eyes but took so long to find the right words he turned to stone.”

The full set of photos from our Underground tour are up on Flickr: have a look…

Grackle Camp

Angeliska — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:59:26 +0000

Once again, our garden is overrun with pixies! A month ago, the sevenfold
incarnation of the Black Forest Fancies took up residence in our backyard,
their tent-village springing up like a fairy ring of mushrooms. Grackle Camp
was born, with the sweetest, most hard-working bunch of puppeteers you
ever did meet. We woke up every morning to the sound of laughter in our
kitchen, and found that a flurry of seven (not dwarves, but elves) had cleaned
the dishes, and made a big communal meal. For two weeks, our seven elves
stayed, and not once did we become overwhelmed by them, or wish to have
our house back to ourselves. To the contrary; it felt too quiet without Zibby’s
cackle, or Libby making salsa, or Otter lolling naked in the hammock,
or Jesse sleeping out under the stars in his sleeping bag. Nina Carolina
and Miss Pandora rounded out and led this wolfy pack, and together they
put on a series of amazing performances of The Pomology of Sweetness
and Light. With all of them being here, I think I finally got a sense of what
it might be like to grow up in a big family. It definitely felt like Swiss Family
Robinson Crusoe around here for those two weeks. Dinners under the dark
canopy of sycamores and pecans, red candlelight and vinho verde and
millions of mosquitoes. Half of them have returned for another go, two
new shows, which I really hope you can go see! Here’s all the info:

A new configuration from New Orleans’ own puppet darlings,
risen from the ashes of the Black Forest Fancies – The Mudlark Puppeteers
are back in Austin with two new shows. They will be performing The Six Swans
and The Nightingale at Center Stage Texas
2826 Real St. 78722

Thursday, July 29th and Friday, July 30 at 8:30 pm.
Admission $10 for adults, $5 for students, seniors and children.

We are hosting a very special party
on Saturday July 31st at 10pm
The Mudlarks present the
WORLD PREMIERE of
The Story of St Dymphna
Behold the making of the beloved martyr
and patron saint of madhouses, motherless children, and princesses in exile.
Told through rod and shadow puppetry – to a score of very black metal.
WARNING – MATURE CONTENT!
and The Six Swans – from the Brothers Grimm.
A princess braves an incredible trial to free her
brothers from a cruel witch’s curse.
Told in rod and shadow puppetry.

Also featuring the amazing Lex Land, chanteuse extraordinaire
and DJ Lina X spinning into the night for dancing under the trees!
1051 Springdale Rd – admission $6

(Pandora and Nina, post-bloodwrestling…)
The last two parties we threw for the Fancies were great successes,
with money raised for the Mudlark Theatre in New Orleans, and from
the Fish Fry for the Gulf Coast Fishermen. We threw an underpants
party, with live bloodwrestling, which was quite a hit, as you might imagine.

And before: as Dolly Parton

…and J. Lo!

Sick, as carny-barker presents the bloody spectacle, with Zibby, Frannie and Marrow wrasslin’ to the death!

Analy and Rachel tipped the pool over with their exertions!

Our donation bar was generously provided by the awesome folks at Tito’s Vodka,
with applejack cocktails that enabled and inspired much of the wrestling!

The bartenders did double time at the kissing booth.

Lovely Monika wielding sparklers in her fanciest underthings.

The lovingly cradled PBR was merely a prop to display her talent for showcasing.

Hans Christian Andersen’s story, The Nightingale was brought to life by the Mudlark Puppeteers,
as a fable told through shadow puppetry and marionettes. The Emperor’s palace and garden are
the most magnificent in the world, but of the many wonders in his vast empire, the nightingale
is best of all. The emperor never leaves his throne, so heavy is he with his own importance,
so he has never heard the beloved voice of the little bird. The nightingale is summoned to the
palace, to please the Emperor, but can nature’s beauty thrive in a gilded cage at court?

Waiting for Gumbo was hysterical. Beckett’s Godot performed by crawdads, mice and live cockroaches!

Miss Amelia, radiant and lovely, and wearing only her unmentionables!

I don’t remember this chicky’s name, but I like her Aeon Flux hair-do.

Elves, I tell you! Amanda Stone is made of elves, and don’t let nobody tell you different.

See the full set of The Black Forest Fancies Underpants Party photos here!

Holi Hai!

Angeliska — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:28:43 +0000

The past few days have been rather damp and dreary, making me
ravenous for rich, saturated color – electric, fluorescent hues that make
my brain tingle. I’m getting pretty bored with the staple neutral palette
that seems to be the fashion uniform these days, though don’t get me
wrong – I love me some black, grey, taupe and ballerina pink – but come on!
Where are my neon silks? I crave sequins of every shade, and heaps of
insane prints that don’t exist (yet). I need to hook up with a textile designer, pronto!
My solution for the dun doldrums is to stare at hundreds of photographs
from Holi celebrations in India, and the Phagwah parades in New York.
Years ago, my friend Dougie Seel gave me a bunch of bags of gulal,
the colored powder that gets tossed joyously all over everybody.
I didn’t know what it was for at the time, so I made a sand mandala design
with it on the sidewalk outside of Z’otz (R.I.P.) Man, do I regret not throwing
it around with wild abandon now! Though, a lot of the gulal is apparently
quite toxic. Still, one day I’d love to be in India for Holi – guzzling bhang
and becoming a sodden rainbow monster for a day. Wouldn’t you?
Here’s some of my favorite recent Holi images, from The Big Picture
and Saturnic’s amazing photoblog. Holi Hai!

(Photograph by K. K. Arora)
People wade through a cloud of colored powder while celebrating the Hindu festival
of Holi at Nand Gaon in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

(Photograph by Jayanta Shaw)
A girl with a colored face reacts as she is drenched during Holi celebrations in Kolkata.

(Photograph by Utpal Baruah)
Men smeared with facepaint and colored powder pose for a picture
during Holi in the northeastern Indian city of Guwahati.
(I love the man in the middle’s gaze. His face is straight from an ancient tapestry.)

(Photograph by Babu)
Girls smeared with colored powder are splashed with colored water
as they celebrate Holi in the southern Indian city of Chennai.

(Photograph by K. K. Arora)
Artists dressed as Hindu Lord Krishna (left) and his consort Radha are showered
with rose petals during Holi celebrations in the northern Indian city of Mathura.
(Isn’t this the best? Lord Krishna’s bored to tears, and Radha’s totally annoyed
by the proliferation of petals. Hilarious! I want to be showered in rose petals!)

(Photograph by Krishnendu Halder)
A child rests inside tomato pulp as part of the celebration of Holi in Hyderabad.
(I also now want to take a tomato pulp bath now, because this kid looks so blissed out!)

Found on Boing Boing: Springtime in Bollywood (Holi He!)
More:
✷ A gray day for Phagwah in NYC – really wonderful, go see!

✷ Even Gala Darling got splashed with color!

✷ Dogseat’s New York Phagwah set on Flickr

✷ I suggest you play this song, and dance around right now! – Festival of Colors – The Creatures

Krew du Poüx!

Angeliska — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:18:05 +0000

Hello, hello! Many apologies for the long absence
and all the tumbleweeds drifting around these parts!
I am returned from my travels, which proved far too
fun and chaotically action-packed to do any of the
updates I had anticipated. In fact, I barely had time
to flick a finger towards my laptop – which was
remarkably freeing! Now I am come home,
and the seemingly inevitable Mardi Gras crud
has caught up with me. I am sadly sniffly and febrile,
and fervently wishing I weren’t! Though it is funny
(in a gallows sort of way) to see that the various flux
and malaises have their original epicenter in Louisiana,
and are now winging their way through the country with
the diaspora of revelers returning home. Check out this map
of flu trends in the US! How many people totally depleted
their immune systems partying, and are now paying the price?
Lots and lots, and I dejectedly among that number! Oh, aches!
So, since I never even got around to posting anything from last
Mardi Gras (yes, I always seem to be about a year late with these
things – it’s totally ridiculous!) I will be devoting this sober Lenten
(ha) season to almost nothing but debauchery and costumes!
Speaking of – this year I actually had to bow out of all Lundi Gras
naughtiness, as I had my nose firmly to the grindstone frantically
trying to finish my Mardi Gras costume. Never again! I missed the
Poux Ball, and I’m quite heartbroken. I heard it was the best one yet,
replete with naked knife-fights for the crown! What’s that? You’re
unfamiliar with the infamous Krew du Poüx? Shame! Let this
wonderful little mini-documentary be an introduction to you:

I was so bummed to miss Poux, especially since it meant not being given
one of the much-coveted commemorative handmade glass medallions,
a grand Poux-doubloon if you will. Lucky stars for me! My dear friend
Forest had kept one warm and close to his heart for me. Good thing
I went out Ash Wednesday, eh? So here are my treasures, which oddly
enough I never cared about collecting until the hurricane blew me west.

Typical Poux antics. I believe this is some sort of trebuchet, no?

Randall and Drew in their amazing ensembles. They make me so happy.

Tanya Solomon (aka Dr. Flummox) is a great clown. Not the bad kind. The good kind. Really!

Liser is the big bad wolf and little red riding hood simultaneously. It happens.

Ratty and Oops were the King and Queen of Poux!
This year they won their crowns again (yes, the
naked knife-fight!) and continue to reign triumphant!

Myrtle von Damitz III, odalisque-ing out with Drew’s giant neon head.

Laron + Kelvin, two of my favorite NOLA/NYC darlings.

Jock is the leader of the 9th Ward Marching Band, a gentleman and a great dancer.

Haley Lou Haden has a stick ‘em tattoo of toast, and I love her.

Hungry for more Lundi Gras Poux?
★ Here’s more photos from Lundi Gras 2009, just for you!
★ Lundi Gras Valentine
★ Lundi Gras (A pictorial essay on the nature of debauchery)
★ Vicissitudes from Cradle
★ Voila les petites creatures musicales qui se cachent dans les fleurs!

Magic Windows #9

Angeliska — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:21:07 +0000

Magic Windows are portals into the strange and beautiful
world I inhabit, and the marvelous people, places and things
come across in my day to day – all captured with the aid
of my handy magic celephone (it’s an iPhone).
The Magic Windows series originated as an attempt
to capture the ephemeral objects and fleeting moments
I experience, and share them here on a weekly basis.
Stay posted for the next one, won’t you?

This past weekend, in honor of my dear darling Francesca’s birthday
(and that of two other beloved Aquarian ladies, Cole + Lali!)
we ventured to the wild northern tundra of Dallas to partake of
the waters at the fabled Korean King Spa – a wonderland of truly
epic propotions, as evidenced by the gigantor silver stallion
that greets you when you walk in. Unfortunately, you can’t quite
make out his cubist testicles in this photo. This fella’s about 30 feet
tall, and his word bubble (apparently) reads “I am the KING!”

King Spa is a truly magical place, decorated with bulbous gourd sculptures
that jut out at intervals from the wall. Lots of pumpkins are arranged on shelves.
This naturalistic approach to decorating is somewhat at odds with the etched
glass partitions in the women’s spa area that depict key scenes from favorites
Simpsons episodes. The ceiling is a light sculpture of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
It made sense to someone! Then again, when you’re being cooked in 113 degree
mugwort infused water, you cease to be picky about the decor. I actually kind of
adore it, for all its randomness. I am a big lover of saunas and bath-houses,
but I had only ever been to Russian versions before. I love to sweat in insanely
hot little rooms with total strangers, and I love being transformed into a
big buttery noodle by older Koran women in their underwear. They scrubs
me with abrasive mitts until grey eraser peelies of skin rolled off me, and then
pummeled and pounded my muscles into submission. My friend Peggy said
afterwards, “Laying there with my face smeared with raw cucumbers,
a bag tied over my head, and a big woman straddling me, I couldn’t help
but think: this should probably be a lot more expensive!” Hah!
Perhaps it is, at some of the mysterious neon-lit bordello-looking dives
in the neighborhood, with provocative names like “Hula Hand” and “Blue Star”.
King Spa is not that kind of place at all, though! No happy-endings here, folks!
It’s about $85 for the scrub and massage, but only $18 for a 24 hour pass
to the facility, which included many strange and wonderful rooms in which
to get your sweat on. It’s so very worth every penny. After about 14 hours,
I felt like I was floating, and had no desire to ever leave. I want to live there.

Apparently, it cost $50 million to build and outfit the place. There are giant
slabs of amethyst geodes embedded into the walls every which way, and
golden pyramids guarded by staunch bronze lions.

This is the aforementioned golden pyramid, and my personal favorite,
the salt igloo! I need to build one in the backyard, pronto. Total bliss!

There are these huge pink rococo Miss Piggy nightmare chairs everywhere.
Perfect for impromptu tea parties with delicious juices and traditional dishes
like sudatorium-baked eggs, bibimbab and fish eggs over rice (al-bab, mmm!)

This brave knight guards the living “elvan” stones and the many amethysts.
The horse eats only mugwort and wormwood, which there is plenty of.
I am a total Jjim-Jil-Bang convert. It’s just wrong that we don’t have a King Spa
in Austin! I would go there every day. It’s a very healing and magical place!

Tonight I read Lady Lavona’s writing on Dark Energy + Dark Matter,
and was very moved by it. Winter is a dark time for me, marked by
remembrances of dear ones passed and untenable weather.
Today is the fifth anniversary of the death of a good friend of mine:
Pandora Pumpkin (née Katherine Hastings) who was very beautiful
and amazing. I miss her so. If you would like to know more about who
she was, here are some writings about her, with many lovely pictures:

♥ In Memoriam – 2007

♥ In Memoriam – 2006

♥ Dear Pandora

♥ Dies Cinerum – Day of Ashes

July 22nd, 1975 – January 25th, 2005

New Year’s Redux

Angeliska — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:33:50 +0000

Ahoy! New photos have surfaced from our New Year’s Eve adventures
in the Texas Hill Country, from Mr. Chip Warren, esteemed gentleman
and fantastic photographer. Following are a handful of my favorites,
but the full set can be seen here: Hill Country New Years 2009

I love the shots he captured of our exploits with fireworks.
Dazzling! It was the first year in a while that we’d had some
rain, so the burn ban was lifted. How delightful to make our
own hanabi fireflowers – the green goblins were the best!

There were fears of a sparkler shortage, but in the end we prevailed,
and many fizzing wands were lit. You can’t have New Year’s without
sparklers! I don’t know who this tripled ghost is, perhaps it’s me?
I especially love the twilight trees along the horizon. So spectral!

One unhappy side effect of shooting off so many fireworks,
is that a few members of the canine party were terrified.
Our dear blind Thelonius wandered off into the thorny
wilderness in fright, and was missing for hours. The
land is riddled with cacti, rocky ridges, barb wire and
freaks with guns. A desperate search turned up not
hide nor hair, but much later in the night he found his
way back to camp from wherever he’d been hiding.
Oh, we were so relieved! Losing your dog in the
country is pretty scary, especially when he’s totally blind.

My Grampy Grover was a mechanic, and many of his project
cars decorate the field. I’m always envisioning alternate futures
for them – what if they could be transformed into sleeping bunks?
Or mini-parlours? Or I suppose we could try and get them running
again. They are so wonderful, these rusted hulks – mostly Morris
Minors and old Datsuns, and then of course there’s my sweet ride
Miss Gertie. One day we must get her up and running again!

Flip and Wolfie walking into a winter wonderland of tanglewoods.

Miss Amelia brought mint-scented bubbles!
Tonka not only tries to eat bubbles, but also
seems to have a taste for lit fireworks, sparklers
and any whizzing, flying thing. I’ve never seen
a dog try to eat colored fire like that- no fear at all!

✶ Corazones quebrados y perros ciegos

✶ Emergence

✶ Take a walk with me..

Stargazer Honey

Angeliska — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:36:47 +0000

Our New Year’s Eve was truly magical. Despite a rocky start
fraught with Mercury’s meddlings, we managed to create a
really solid camp and the coziest tipi yet! In a pinch, duct tape,
scavenged rope and a random dental tool can be used to
quite ingenious effect – the skin was sewn by Francesca
out of projector screen cloth, and the poles are bamboo.
It’s sort of a tipi-lavvu-yurt really, and after staying in it for
a few days, it’s hard to imagine staying in a regular tent again.
The blue full moon was wreathed in a prismatic halo,
a moon-bow to bless our turnings – we shot off fireworks
and drank almond champagne and romped with the many
doggies and friends. It was so lovely to go to sleep in the
warm tipi, surrounded by the snorings of my dear friends.
It was exactly like sleeping in a pile of furry wild things!
We cooked all our meals on the campfire and ate like kings.
Sausages, ham and brisket for the carnivores,
greens and black eyed peas for luck! Oh, and
bacon fried + toasted marshmallows. Crazy.

It’s incredible what you find on the ground when you take the time to look.
We found beautiful rocks (Lone Grove is rock-hound paradise!)
and treasures buried in the sand. One day, maybe we’ll find
some arrowheads. My Grampy used to find lots out there.

More fodder for my mycological fixations!

We finally managed to bring home this gorgeous stained glass window
that was my mother’s. New Year’s Eve is her birthday, but it feels like
she gave me a present instead this year. I can’t wait to install it in our parlour!

We were treated to three very beautiful sunsets, all very different but each
very spectacular. This was my favorite though, taken while driving the
Willow City Loop! If you get the chance to take that drive, I highly recommend it.

Lovely Miss Amelia joined us for the holiday – always managing to be the
picture of elegance in satin peignoirs and kiss curls around the campfire.

She took this picture of me in front of my favorite blasted tree.
I got these Posture Magnetic star leggings recently, and I wish
I could wear them every day! I don’t know if Brian Erickson is
still making this stuff, but if anyone finds any – please let me know.

It doesn’t get more celestial than star pants + singing bowls, you know?

Colin is the singing bowl master – he made tones come out of that little bowl
that made me laugh with elation and had my eyes streaming tears.
Have you ever played one? They are amazing. I want a really huge one!

Like my antlers? Miss Jolie Holland made ‘em for me!
They are so simple, and so perfect – I love that lady.
I hope that your celebration was marvelous, and that your year is off to
an auspicious start. Any resolutions or goal-makings for you? I have lots!
Hopefully I will do a better job of accomplishing them this time round.
I am being helped a lot by the teuxdeux, an excellent to-do list maker.
(Thanks for turning me on to this, Gala!) I love it. Perfect for the obsessive
list-maker who spends too much time online!

This year I intend to:
✶ cook outside more often –
it’s so fun and satisfying!
✶ dance more!
✶ dress with specific intention every day
✶ write lots of letters and postcards!
✶ be more engaged with my body,
through yoga + exercise – oh yeah!
✶ read more – I have heaps of wonderful
books awaiting me, so delicious and tempting.
✶ make lots of jewelry
✶ re-design this bee-log – soon, soon!
✶ start selling off a lot of my vintage collection,
and keep selling interesting curios
✶ additionally, I would like to be more
patient, serene and positive in general.
✶ oh yes, and I’d like to DJ lots more!
I could keep going, but I think that’s a
pretty good start. Now is the time.

By the way – if you haven’t gotten a copy of the latest issue
of Coilhouse yet, (Issue 04) you had better hustle!
I am so proud to have two articles in this one:
the interview I did with Larkin Grimm, with an
additional piece on the Musicka Mystica Maxima Festival,
and an interview with Christopher Brosius of I Hate Perfume.

One day, I must get to back to Detroit!
I have family there – I visited them by train
when I was very small. Have you ever been?
Check out these incredible photographs
of abandoned buildings – I’d love to explore them!
The Grandiose Decay of Abandoned Detroit

I enjoyed reading this excerpt from a biography
of super-tragic supermodel Gia Carangi and her teenage years as a David Bowie fan.
I’ve always loved thinking about the tidal wave of glam and glitter
and the fever that swept up the restless youth in a sea of glitter polyester!
Can you imagine? What a crazy time to experience, eh?

One last thing – if you still have not seen Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973),
then we need to talk. It’s been on my top ten favorite films of all time list
for many years. Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen are incredible, and
I adore Terrence Malick’s work. I wish the soundtrack was available,
it’s great too. Man, I need to see it again soon! I wish Criterion would
release it – the only copies I’ve seen have been real scrabbly.
Right! With that, I bid you goodnight! I go back to work on the morrow,
and must figure out what the hell I’m doing for my birthday – it’s only
a week away! Ideas? I’m fairly stumped, though I may have just nailed it…
This trip into the wild was pretty inspiring – perhaps the tipi will play a part!

Blue Moon

Angeliska — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:39:23 +0000

Here we go, darlings – on the precipice of a new year,
and just nearly ready to dry our sticky wings on the
other side of the future! 2010, for real? I mean,
doesn’t it seem slightly preposterous, as if we
ought to be living in some science fiction reality?
Where’s my flying car? I still don’t have a jet-pack,
either! Oh well, I’m headed for the woods anyhow -
leaving for my ancestral hills to celebrate in my
favorite way: around a bonfire, with my dearest
all around and the bright stars burning overhead.
This year, we shall experience not only a full moon,
but a blue moon and a lunar eclipse! The eclipse
won’t be visible, (unless you’re in India, I think!)
but it should make for a very intense night!
I for one, am even more glad than usual to be
away from the city and the furor and desperation
of the crowds of revelers. My batteries are in
need of a major recharge, and the only thing
that will do the trick is a visit to the ancient
granite grounds that my family has dwelled
on since the 1800′s. It’s where my heart lives.

(Photograph by @nt!x)
I can’t wait to re-inhabit our tipi-yurt-lavvu-thing!
I’m still hankering for a proper one,
but they’re quite pricey – oh, one day…

(Photograph by Oregon State University Archives)

Okay, just a heads up – this eclipse is pretty gnarly!

(Photograph by Richocam)

“The Full Moon Lunar Eclipse on December 31st, 2009
occurs at 10°15′ Cancer, in conjunction with the Fixed Star Alhena,
a star which is reputed to be favourable for hunting, besieging towns,
and the revenge of princes! It would be wise to avoid travel at this time,
if you can. Known as “the wound in the tendon of Achilles”
it destroys fruits and harvests. Cancer is an emotional sign,
ruled by the Moon, so since neither the Sun nor the Moon
form any promising aspects on this day, expect quite an emotional,
even teary New Year’s Eve. Mercury is retrograde in Capricorn,
and Mars is also retrograde in Leo, so issues and attractions
from the past will demand to be dealt with under this eclipse.
Breakdowns in communication will spark the issue.
Since at the moment of the eclipse, Warrior Mars
(action; passion; violence; accidents) is rising exactly
on the degree and minute of the ascendant,
tightly opposing the Part of Fortune (within 4 minutes of arc),
the chances of a blood-stained celebration are high.”
- Rob Tillett
Um, whoa. Yikes much?
For further reading, I suggest you
check out what Heather Burdette
has to say – it’s a little more calming!

(Photograph by Carlos Lisboa)

Regardless of celestial influence, I truly hope that
everyone has a marvelous turning of the year!
There are so many things I want to accomplish
this year, so much ground I want to cover -
it’s a little overwhelming to contemplate!
I’m starting slowly and quietly, cleaning
and sweeping my house to make it ready for
the approval of the Blanchette, and lighting
candles and making wishes that this year
I can achieve my goals – no more Procrastination
Station, please!

“You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings!”

I read this somewhere recently, and it made a big impression on me.
(So much so, that I can’t recall where I read it? Eesh.)
I think that this will be my motto for the year,
in hopes that I will be reminded to take the reins
for myself and stop waiting around for divine
intervention to crown me empress of my life.
Drive your own chariot to the moon.
Now or never!

(Photographer unknown to me!)

“Begin doing what you want to do now.
We are not living in eternity.
We have only this moment,
sparkling like a star in our hand -
and melting like a snowflake…”
- Francis Bacon, Sr.

Here’s a little happy/sad number called Days With You
from fine fellows Jason Webley with Sxip Shirey.
Watch out – it is extremely catchy!
Hopefully you can remember the words
and sing it tipsily with your best friends, eh?

More reading material from days of yore:
✶ Lone Grove New Year – 2009
✶ Pink Moons
✶ The New Year – 2008
✶ Lucky Stars and Garters – 2007
✶ La Nouvelle Année – 2006

807 Esplanade

Angeliska — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:50:41 +0000

(Photographer unknown)

I became friendly with the ghosts of 807 Esplanade
not long after I moved into the building. The house
held so much history, it would seem strange if it
weren’t haunted at least by a few souls. The place
was huge, and there was some heavy energy
out back by the the former slave quarter apartments
where the drunks and dealers and recluses made
their sad lairs in little garrets connected by a very
rickety and dangerous wooden staircase. The whole
place was falling apart, long neglected by the owners.
I originally moved into the tower, alone at age 20,
a new resident of New Orleans. One night, my neighbor
who had lived in her apartment for years decided she’d
finally had it with pieces of the ceiling falling in, and
trying to raise her little daughter, Aurelia, in such an
unsafe house. She stormed out in a screaming fury,
and I ended up moving into her much larger and grander
apartment on the third floor. Two balconies, a clawfoot
tub, a gorgeous chandelier and two Italian Carrera marble
fireplaces (outfitted with freaky, fire-spitting gas heaters).

(Photographer known, but I’m afraid I’ve forgotten his name!)

The ceilings were 15 feet tall, and there were leaks in
every room when it rained, which it did nearly every afternoon.
We were plagued with rats, mice, giant flying cockroaches,
stinging caterpillars, noisy drunks from Bourbon St., and
general decay – but none of that mattered at all. In fact,
none of the hard things about living in New Orleans
really affected me, as long as I was living in that marvelous mansion.
We called it “Crumblydown Manor” or “Bramblebee Estates”
but mostly I called it the “We Have Always Lived in the Castle Castle”,
because it reminded me of something out of a Shirley Jackson story.
It was the ultimate in Southern Gothic dilapidated opulence,
and I felt like a queen surveying the hoi polloi, hidden behind
massive oaks on the balcony overlooking the neutral ground.
I still feel like it’s my house, and I always will. I go there in my
dreams all the time. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I miss it.

This is where I would lock up my bicycle every day. (Photographer unknown)

Alas, I digress! On to the ghosts – they mostly congregated in the stairwell,
playing little tricks on the other neighbors, and making mischief.
I felt quite a few presences there, and I felt that there was something
about the liminal space of the staircase, the landings and the halls
that kept them there. I would generally greet them warmly and politely
when climbing up or down the three flights as I did several times a day.
They repaid me for my good manners by saving my life on more occasions
then I can count. I am not the most coordinated lady, and was frequently
in ridiculously tall heels and often quite inebriated. I was constantly
taking a misstep on the steep stairs and nearly toppling to my death,
but somehow- it never happened. I would trip, and start to fall backwards-
that horrible, slow-motion slant backwards, arms wheeling, a slave to gravity
preparing for the worst until I would feel hands on my back pushing me forward
and back up onto the step. Sweating and gasping, I would thank them profusely.
Lucky for klutzy me, to have such kind and watchful ghosts looking out for me, eh?

(Photographer unknown – Melissa G., are these yours perchance?)

One afternoon, I was locking my bicycle up to the big mahogany post
at the base of the stairs. As I bent over to attach the lock, I felt someone
standing near me, and I glanced to the side expecting to see a neighbor.
Our of my peripheral vision, I saw a man standing there, wearing an olive
green wool army uniform, I reckon 1940′s WWII era. He was solemn and
sad seeming, standing there very straight, almost at attention. His hair
was blond, and curled over his forehead, looking almost marcelled.
Blue eyes. I think he wanted something. I think he wanted help finding
the way out, or just desired company. I only saw him that once, and it
was so short. As soon as I turned my head to look at him head on,
he was gone. I sensed him lots of times after that, though. His energy
reminded me of one of my favorite descriptions from the His Dark Materials
Trilogy, by Phillip Pullman:

“How much easier if his dæmon had been visible!
She wondered what its form might be,
and whether it was fixed yet.
Whatever its form was, it would express a nature
that was savage, and courteous, and unhappy.”

(Photographer unknown)

It was not too long after that that my friend Miss Carrin
came to visit. After her first night staying with us, she
informed me that our house was haunted. I was shocked to
find out that the ghosts had crossed the threshold! They
generally were very respectful, and stayed to the stairs
and the landings. She was drifting off to sleep, when
she suddenly sensed someone standing over her.
She opened her eyes to see a man staring down
at her lying there. He disappeared after a moment,
but not before she got a good look at him. I asked her
to describe the man she saw, and she told me that he
was wearing some kind of greenish uniform or suit,
and had blond wavy hair. I had not told her anything
of the ghost I had seen prior to this. A while later, a
guest told me that something in that room had kicked
him in the ribs while he slept. Perhaps the blond man
took a disliking to him, or maybe it was some other
mischievous phantom. I wonder how that soldier is
these days- if he’s crossed through, or if he’s made
any news friends. I imagine him still heartbroken,
searching. Maybe angry that I’m not there, and
making trouble for the filmmakers that are renovating
my old home and turning it into a production studio.

This is the house a long, long time ago.
When the turrets were still in place, and the
oaks and ivy had not yet sprung up to clothe
her bare and sienna-stained edifice. Nary
a single tree in what I knew as a somewhat dank
and shady leaf-clogged courtyard. Dirt roads
and women all in white, men all in black.

To know what my room looked like, and
to know the story of the terrible things that
happened after, when everyone who lived
there was given the boot, and the house
was desecrated, please see: Mutatis Mutandis

I also advise you to find out what happened
after that, to know more about the angry ghosts,
do read: Ghost Story – it’s quite creepy.
I still can hardly believe it. So strange.

☛ Some recent photos of the house from Gairid.

☛ What is the history of 807 Esplanade Avenue?
- from Blake Ponchartrain at The Gambit

☛ Tod Seelie’s photos of our mutual friends and various stompin’ grounds
in New Orleans are truly magic. He’s damn good, and his pictures
make my heart feel funny. Longing, and laughing.
Especially check out his post from the The Day Of The Dead
parade and Viking funeral for Colby – they are breathtaking.
DRAGGIN’ SOMEDAY OUT TO SEA
and a perfect visual explanation for me,
of what it means, to miss New Orleans:
NEVER SANG A LOVE SONG, NEVER OWNED A CAR

☛ Details of cornices and murals from the house,
in a book I want very much: New Orleans Architecture Volume 4:
The Creole Faubourgs – By Roulhac Toledano & Mary Louise Christovich

☛ More news about the renovations.

The Witches’ New Year

Angeliska — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:59:54 +0000

Our Halloween began at twilight, as the last meager trickle of trickertreaters
drifted off, leaving us well stocked with gummi body parts + mini almond joys
for life. Or at least a little while, knowing the sweet-tooth of certain fellas in these
parts! We headed down to The Eastside Showroom to partake in their special
Death Warmed Over Menu, which was fantastic. We had the jack o’ lantern stew
and candycorn parfaits. If you’ve not been yet, I suggest you hustle! It’s my new
favorite spot for a fancy moment with friends. Wonderful food, and incredible
ambiance – complete with silent films flickering, Polish film posters, metal sculpture
and super-gorgeous and sweet staff! Austin’s Eastside restaurant scene has really
stepped up its game recently, with the additions of this gem, as well as my beloved
Justine’s 1937 and The Good Knight. I am so incredibly pleased by my fabulous evening
options! I recommend them all very highly if you love fine food and curious cocktails.

Sienna la Bruja! For various reasons I’ll elaborate on at some point soon,
we had to nix our planned trip to New Orleans. Sienna is another NOLA expat,
and we commiserated on our homesickness, though I’d say we tore it up in Texas
pretty damn well! Soulmates were met in the forest, fires conjured, and mayhem
ensued despite the cold, inadequate music, and general asshattery we encountered.
Unfortunately, all my photos from that portion of the night mysteriously vanished!
Luckily, I was using two cameras, and the first batch is pretty choice, thank heavens.

Frannie sips a mysterious beverage made with dry ice absinthe and lemonade,
garnished with a blacks spider. The absinthe-soaked lychee eyeball floating at
the bottom was just beyond! I have a new favorite food. That’s all I want to eat
from now on, okay? That, and ghost-cheese ravioli. Also, persimmons!

Chad the sexy wolf-child, with just a touch of gangrene! Ooh la – watch out!

Colin was an undead Oddfellow, wearing all authentic regalia found guess where?

The hoodwink and golden fishscale leggings and matching helmet are all so fine,
not to mention the man himself – who not only looked amazing, but also saved the
day when a powerful meeting of the minds caused my unicorn horn to spontaneously
shatter. It was just like in Legend! I thought the horn was made of plastic, but no!
It was actually glass, oops. Costume disaster was averted by my extremely talented
honey, who fashioned me a replacement out of tinfoil. He is a sexy genius.

I was so happy in my unicorn ensemble, that I really didn’t want to take it off
at 5am when it was high time for lullabies. I think I achieved my 7 year old
self’s fantasy ideal, though last year’s costume did set the bar rather high.

The sweater was a lucky New Bohemia find, worn as a shrug for the night.

The makeup was so fun to do, I wish I’d gotten a better picture of it.
Please ignore the falling off eyelash, and focus instead on the little pastel stars!

I met White Birdwoman in the lavatory, and fell in love with her magic mask,
which brought to mind one of my favorite series, The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge.

Ronnie was the first (but not the last!) Harajuku Girl I saw that night.

A very cute Jack and Sally.

Cassie = Bob Dylan

David, the Forest Prince

The next night, we went to see Gogol Bordello, which more than made up
for the lackluster entertainment situation on Halloween proper. It was great to
see my old friends bring down the house, as always, and to all get naughty
at one of my favorite dives. Good sweaty fun, and so many dear faces.

How did your Halloween turn out? I hope it was truly everything your heart desired!