Nightlight News

1.30.2008

Juggling Gypsy Hookah Bar / / Wilm Dredux

Boyzone in Wilmington @ the Juggling Gypsy Hookah Bar, courtesy 910 Noise

first clip is mellower

then

Thanks Ryans + Karl + SCiphers

Coming soon: Extreme Music from Persia

1.23.2008

Take a chance on me

Apparently my overactive imagination runs its own agenda, and late night dosa makes for ridiculous dreamy. Dosa is a South Indian delicacy, made of fermented rice and lentil in this case, left overnight it gets sour and delicious. Fermented foods, being the guardian lovechild of the Weston Price Foundation, those wily old ladies who make eyes at me at the Sustainable Ag conference, have been touted more and more for their amazing curative powers, and we all know they taste delicious because we like sauerkraut and wine. So I eat my dosa late at night and then go to beddy bye. When I wake up, I find that I have had the most amazing dream, one that involves me throwing a snowball at a street sign which has weather detecting technology attached. The police try to arrest me, and then the cop takes me into a diner, where he proceeds to write me a ticket. After pleading him down to a warning (without nary a blow j or any grab ass), my dream state story continues, for I exit the diner and enter into a large hotel ballroom, where the much-lauded former Chapel Hill band Haunted House is playing, although this incarnation is a new edition, one that baffles. It is called Rascal Flatts and the Rambling Ramblers, a bluegrass band with four people playing the same keyboard simultaneously. I see Jeffy, who remarks to me in the following fashion-
"Come sit here - you are staying with me, everyone else has left. Don't go anywhere" or something to that effect. Clearly the new incarnation is not to his or others' liking. Curiously, part of the the band involves a television displaying something akin to a Ronco ad. Then I wake up, after an abbreviated night's sleep, somewhat groggy, craving Emergen-C, and confused as to why now I begin to remember dreams, for in the past I never did nothing in the morning but forget the dreams, except for the sexy parts, which are often in my nighttime brainwaves. So you see, you too should forgo the grocery store. Buy bulk, and make your own fermented foods. These favorites include-
Kimchi
Dosa
Kombucha
Miso
This combination of foods shall enable your healing process, which by now you must sorely need.

Also - I'll see you at Boyzone tonight.

1.22.2008

CATS CRADLE presents

BOYZONE will finally be getting the recognition we so richly deserve
IMMINENTLY on WEDNESDAY 1.23.08

We got asked to play a show

for years you have struggled with us but the Chapel Hill music
establishment can no longer DENY the seminal role we've played in the
development of the Chapel Hill Sound. Join us this Wednesday as we
receive our LONG OVER-DUE recognition, and join thousands of local
music fans as we answer an entreaty from the void, stretch our wings
and burst from the cocoon of Nightlight into the dim smokey lights of
Local 506. It'll be an experience of rare power and beauty, a
one-night stand of unparalleled beauty and magnificence

Cats Cradle presents:

BOYZONE

w/ SIX ORGANS of ADMITTANCE

@@@Local 506

Doors 8:30 / 9:30 Show
8$advance or 10$day-of to take this journey with us
and you can buy tickets from triangle record stores or online at
etix.com. OR Phone orders 919 967 9053

Local 506 is generously located within reach at 506 W Franklin St CHAPEL HILL
Purchase of Membership is Required to Attend Shows there

Thanks for listening!

- BOYZONE

1.21.2008

The first in a series of Excerpts from the bONER mACHINE gnomologues pending complicity

December 12th, 2006:

Dear Dim and Dom,

I'd like to personally inform you two that "your" "Grizzly" has been unchained and is no longer a secret to the neighbors. Despite countless attempts at self-inflicted punishment on a relinquished grizzle guard (Unbeknownst, of Course, to our former mayor -who may or may not be slip'n'sliding on the gray scale and finger-banging The Abundance of that age old Chef Boyardee Cheese Ravioli) we are splitting hairs. As is protocol, the usual facilitation of meat muppet action is (in fact) a little thing I like to call "Hero Tube Tying"/\\/\/1i1i1> It's a little much to get into now, but surely you understand the reasons behind your FUCKING FACE, applesauce. So, by the time you get your "big momma's" back on, remember where it was you left the lube for that hunka beast-beast, and pop-pop the pearly whites back in, you might wanna think about stopping short of ramrodding every next man's grizzle gut and offering up a fatty stack to Jesu Von Bulimia. Just a suggestion.

Sincerely,
Ace

NL Booking Application: REJECTED.

Upon glancing in the interim and all the twixt between the teens can bet that there's a sloppy regret in masturbation and spin needling the clean wish washing daydreams round all fantasies and menageries.

It's a plexiglass thing you see, clear scratches and turpentine, mufflettas and orange things, rice pineapples and papaya rings. Add dashes of ecstasy, full blown resistancy, the ability to say no, and gleam the cube whenever need be.

Awful is awesome and butchers know blood, a moth in the fire is a moth with the wood. I RAPED THE CAT IN THE HAT, and I weep knowing that cat will grow fat. Fat with my future, fat with my kids, I wonder where his crystal is. Does he even have one? One ball that tells all, fortune, fame, and the fall? If we find it we'll know but until then we have to look high and look low, question everything but bask in the glow of trash and despondency, clamor and rain.

Think of me when you think of garlic and gristle, ham hocks and hammering, dust in the cracks and cheeks filled with spittle. Stink ocean bath cholera, wrestle night lashed jellyfish with your eyes deep down in clear water near cliffs rising high. Little medusa's with minds all their own, their time in their puzzles, soft currents in thrones. Open doorways to sequin laden straw bails and hay crawling ferociously to make their own way out of the barn the door you left open to writhe in the mouths of the horses that neigh, that never say, "why?"

1.20.2008

---------------------------- Manifestual-------------------------------

I seem to have a self-destructive proclivity towards attempting to write intensely personal and comprehensive 'manifestos' illustrating why Nightlight holds a special place in my heart. It's not terribly easy to sit down and write an article about the club, and even when I narrow down my focus and concentrate on one specific aspect of the job, it still becomes this giant monster.

Regardless, check out the fruits of my labors. I spent over three months working on an article I call "A Tiny Art-Land Vortex" http://www.tinymixtapes.com/A-Tiny-Art-Land-Vortex
It's my attempt to delve into the idiosyncrasies of the job of booking agent at a small club. The editor at TMT loved it, said it was one of the best things they've ever posted to the site. Not sure how to follow that up, but I am working on setting up an interview with Haunted House.

1.17.2008

June '05 - June '07

*Note: This was written in June, I found it in my "drafts" box. It marks some reflection on 2 years of involvement with Nightlight and Nightlighters.

--------

I've been attending and/or performing shows at Nightlight for the past two years now and have to say WOW, what a haven.

Seriously, more power more intimacy more originality more unknowns and unheard of's
less money less crowd less bullshit more fun less predictable etc. and so on and so forth,

you know what I'm talking about. it has had more juicy punctured consistently inconsistent soul (albeit white mostly)
than any other "established" arena(!) in the area. Attracting all sorts of open-eyed people, drunks, crazies, artistic nobodies,
and even several trubies (true love artist rubies). Sure there's the riff raff, the nay-sayers, the look-downers, but who cares? get POSI-CORE.

I guess I'm writing this because I love Nightlight and the people who have helped make it the space it has been and has become. I now feel the need to comment on what it has become. I've heard a few people say, "it's not the same" and well duh, it's never the same, and that "everyone is leaving" or whatever. I mean. PLATFORM hello? I just have to quell those sentiments right now. One person mentioned to me how it has gotten "too formal" with the events of wristbands at No Future Fest or Soundscape or something else. But what's the big deal? I wear wristbands all the time. I even have a permanent one til death due us part. and I know that Alexis has been kick ass organizing the underside of the business (money/licenses/etc) in order to keep it clean enough to STAY OPEN. Fuck. Inevitably everything changes. The shows recently have been out-fucking rageous. If you are not on the Nightlight newsletter, get on it. I am bombarded with info on ball-licking shows weekly and, unfortunately, only get my aural balls licked once every couple of weeks or so because I don't live in the Chapel Harrboro anymore.

I suppose this is an Announcement. Is that what a blog is? and commentary. please comment back.

Now I propose to myself to comment on the "scene" as it were is everywhere in places like Nightlight. Nightlight is a venue. A place for PERFORMANCE-EXPRESSION-EXPERIMENTATION-ANNOUNCEMENT-COMING OUT-EXPLOSION-DEFILING-A PERPETUAL WITCHHUNT. How far can we get? HOW FAR? How FAR WILL YOU GET?!?

As for the fact that "ownership" has changed hands and "people are leaving" PLEASE GET OVER THIS. This happens all the time. What happens now is better than what came before. It is up to people like you reading this blog right now, artists, musicians, fans, listeners, audience, and those who want to be such, TO BE SUCH. DO SOMETHING. ASK around, play with your friends, dress up in garbage, ring around the rosie, start fires, bring mirrors, BREAK MIRRORS, enjoy yourself, Scrape your face on the floor, Yell wow when you have no idea what just happened. thank them when they fuck you just right.
and tell them that was "really interesting" when you thought they sucked, or "do ya'll practice?" and then remember it's all performance and it's ok if they suck cause it was only 3 dollars and maybe you really like shitty bands.

But seriously, play with your friends if you want and do whatever you want and get people hype and be indignant and have integrity and blow up the fucking spot.

Oh yeah and tell Alexis or Jenks or Ryan or whoever is tearing up the NL structure these days your dissaprovals and approvals and come up with questions or with positive suggestions for change if there is something you don't like. For instance:

"Dear Alexis: why'd you take the old beer banner down? I liked it better than the new one. do you still have it? Can we put it back up? No? Ok. Fine. Fuck you."

Otherwise shut the fuck up, get over it and make something. Inevitably everything changes.

Ok. All that said.

Now I'll piggy back that with a quick couple of questions.

Is tea and treason still happening? How come it's so uncool and trendy to not talk about race and political issues within the realm of performance? Do ya'll ever think about this? This is something I've struggled with for a while. I think I know. It's because people want to fucking have fun and forget all the complicated bureaucratic bullshit that accompnies the state of the nation and public policy and general ignorance of privileged white kids. and i love fun and it's certainly a better way to spend your time than a lot of other things, which i won't go into. Can't we throw ourselves into some serious shit also, inside or outside performance? I think that if we do, shows and crowds will be that much more effervescent and deliberate, choking and emotional, HOTT and sweatty. So This is ME encouraging ME and YOU TOO to start getting active. Support people who need help. Don't know where to start? Read. Volunteer. Visit Internationalist. Listen to words. Walk asking. get arrested. share music, skills, tools, and information. cynicism will kill you and your love for the beauty of Nightlight and everything else. watch cynicism. go to Nightlight. lose your ego. fuel your passion. turn gay. research consent. keep a journal. start sewing. How far can we get?

By the way, if you're reading this you are priveleged (in that you have access to the internet) and most likely white. which, according to the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond makes you a racist. What do we do about that?

1.04.2008

GAWRSH

When I was something like 11 years old, my friend Douglass and I created a short comic book called 'Frankenpuppy'. The premise is pretty self-evident - this superhero dog made from the parts of dead dogs was brought back to life and he fought all kinds and numbers of bizarre foes that sprung from our sci-fi and fantasy drenched brains. We sold the comics at the pool where we spent every day of our lives from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I would arrive at the pool before it opened, waiting for a lifeguard to unlock the gate, and then I would pester people throughout the day with chlorine-bleached hair and pruny hands to buy a comic for $.25. If only I had been more persistent, now I could be working for United Nations. Instead, I can hardly get my shit together and publish a mini-comic.

And now to explain. You see, I just read an article on the Financial Times US Homepage indicating that Marvel Comics is teaming up with the United Nations to produce a print run of 1m comics depicting Marvel superheroes such as Spiderman teaming up with UNICEF and UN Peacekeepers to solve global problems such as bloody conflicts and starvation. If that seems absurd to you, we should chat over coffee. I feel as though there is something weird or unsettling about this idea, yet I can't quite figure out why I feel this way. Perhaps it's that the UN is essentially trying to team up with Stan Lee's company to improve their image, rather than improving their image by making a real difference on an issue of global import. Maybe it's that I envision a short, slippery slope that will ultimately result in the Incredible Hulk clobbering an Osama Bin Laden look-alike, which would be a disingenuous purpose for one of my favorite super-strong heroes ever. Or maybe not, maybe that's what the Hulk was meant to do all along.

Maybe I have a tendency to reject propaganda, marketing, or other schemes that misappropriate heroes, music, etc from my favorites. My reaction feels close to the kind of reaction I have when I hear a commercial with a beloved song from the canon of classic rock promoting something I detest, like if "War Pigs" provided the backdrop for an H2 ad. Not that I detest the UN, but I do think that using superheroes in fictional scenarios as a propaganda tool for an international agency is misleading - international problems can't be solved by radioactive spider bites. I guess I'll have to wait til the comics get published so I can get a clearer idea on what kind of insight Marvel's finest can offer into solutions for the problems of Earth. Hmmm. READ FOR YOURSELVES.