the · affected · provincial’s · almanack

Any of you Philly types interested in the art of making herbal tinctures should attend this Sunday's workshop held by Aemen Bell.

Sunday, October 18th, 3PM
@ 2037 Frankford Avenue
$10. RSVP to jay@arthurmag.com

Just dropping a line to remind you that I'll be hosting a reading/workshop on terrarium gardening this Sunday. Here are the details. Hope to see you babies there.

~W

Friends,

Anyone attending this Sunday's terrarium workshop is invited to bring along their own materials so they can leave with their own terrarium. Here is a list that might help.

Stuff to bring:

glass container with a lid
rubbing alcohol with paper towels to wipe inside of container
small pebbles for drainage
coffee filter or cheesecloth
activated charcoal (check at aquarium or aquatic garden supply stores)
sterilized potting soil mix (indoor plants), desert succulent mix (succulents), or peat (moss)
distilled water

Recommended plants:

Swedish Ivy
Maidenhair Fern
Wintergreen
Club Moss
African Violet
small desert succulents
wild mosses

(Photo by Ves Pitt)

Thursday, June 18, 6:00 PM:
Third Annual Drag Show Video Vérité: The Ultimate New York City Drag Show... on Video Tape
Premieres of never before publicly screened footage capturing over four decades of New York City's top male and female impersonators including rare footage of Divine, Flawless Sabrina, Charles Ludlam, Mr. Lynn Carter, Joey Arias, Rose Wood, Sherry Vine, Lady Bunny, and RuPaul. Plus a special slide show of Ves Pitt's drag portraits with live piano accompaniment. Selections made by drag historian Joe E. Jeffreys, who will introduce the program.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza (entrance just to the right of the Opera House)
FREE - first come, first served

Thanks to thornyc for hipping us to the scene.

Visit Rarefind Nursery for a bog workshop, with carnivorous plant expert Jason Austin and his protégé Bill Smith

1st Workshop: June 27th, 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
2nd Workshop: Aug. 29th, 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Limit 12 People / $100.00 per person

This workshop will include a brief talk followed by hands-on creation of your own unique containerized bog garden. The plants will be hardy pitcher plants, sun dews, fly traps, orchids, and their companions. The selection with which to choose from will be second to none. More than 10 kinds of pitcher plants alone. The container selection will also offer 6 color choices of a sturdy, unbreakable, 16" crescent pot. This will be a big step up from previous years containers, offering participants an amazing array of options not found anywhere else.

Jason has been growing carnivorous plants in containers since 1999 and he will be hands on to help assemble them and answer any questions. We feel that this is an unique and original way to grow carnivorous plants that will come through the winter year after year providing you with a beautiful piece for your patio deck or garden.

Click here to sign up for this program.

Visit us at www.rarefindnursery.com

Questions: Call 732-833-0613
Or email us: support@rarefindnursery.com
Directions: Click here for directions

June 16th:
I will again mount the steps of the Rosenbach Museum and make a godawful hash of James Joyce's Ulysses during this year's Bloomsday. For those interested in bearing morbid witness to this literary travesty: I'll be reading an excerpt from "Telemachus" around noon.




June 22nd:
I will be at Glasslands Gallery looking very much like everyone's dad/science teacher when I join "Maw," curated by Zev Deans and friends. I'll do another installment of what I call "A User's Guide to North America": an informal, hands-on presentation of living things brought from the wilds of the Pine Barrens.

This weekend is the Spring Plant Sale at Bartram's Garden. A list of available plants can be downloaded here. I'll be helping to set things up tomorrow morning. See you there.

Met David Howard, Prince Charles' former gardener yesterday. He sat in on our Hort committee meeting at Bartram's Garden. He and architect James Dart have been spending the week making presentations to board members and the like. They have a lot of very good ideas, and I hope they can get the resources necessary to move forward with the first phase this year. Wish I could elaborate, but it may be best to remain mum for now. Not that it's of any real interest to non historical gardening goons, mind you.

Off to NYC tonight to speak at the Peter Minuit chapter of the DAR's 40th birthday dinner about the colorful history of the town I live in. Odd that I should be speaking to someone with close ties to the royal family one day, and the next day speaking with women with ties to the founding fathers. I'm beginning to suspect that I may be a spy.

I've been thinking about you lately, Philadelphia. Yeah, that's right. See, I've been thinking about this thing we have together, and I think it's time. Yes I do. I think it's time we get serious. Are you picking up what I'm putting down, Philly? You know what I'm trying to say? That's right: It's time to start picking out plants, Philadelphia. You and me. Together. And that's not all. We're also gonna get our hands dirty. Real dirty. Dirt dirty, babies. I'm gonna take your Mid-Atlantic hand, and I'm gonna make it do things you never thought about doing before. That's right. Like making terrariums. Bog gardens. And caring. For carnivorous plants. And mosses. And then? Then we're gonna make some things. Sweet things. Like seed grenades, baby. And then? We're gonna use those grenades, Philadelphia. Our bombs will start that gentle revolution we've been dreaming about, baby. See, our grenades don't bang: they bloom. Those seeds? They're going places. Dark places. Tender places. They're gonna get into your crevices, caress your sweet concrete till they make it crazy, turn you out, and then they're gonna get their hot, sweet, green mess all over your pebbly belly, Philly. We're gonna put them everywhere. You and I. I'm gonna make you feel soooo good. And then we're gonna have some delicious tea. Know why? Because it's our anniversary, baby. That's right. It's Earth Day.

Meet me at the usual:

Wed., April 22:
Random Tea Room,
6-8PM

713 North 4th Street
Northern Liberties,
Philadelphia
267.639.2442

And don't wear anything fussy. You know I like you...natural.

For real,
W

Friends,

Below is a link to my website, where I have posted care sheets for carnivorous plants as downloadable pdfs. Just scroll to the bottom of the page, and click. Hope they might be of use to you. Happy spring.

~W

My man Ian Svenonius is currently on the road with his new band, Chain and the Gang (I recall having a conversation in a Philly cab last fall with him about the name, but I thought it best to keep it under my hat until he made things official). I also have word that Ian has also just wrapped up a new series of Chicago-based interviews for Soft Focus. Expect Steve Albini and other Chicago notables.

Naturally, Chain and the Gang, being a Svenonius project, has a manifesto:

Ian Svenonius … a.k.a. Name Names is now with CHAIN and The GANG. They are tired of liberty … tired of being free … they say "if this is 'freedom' then lock me up and throw away the key."

"DOWN WITH LIBERTY … UP WITH CHAINS! YEH YEH … SAY IT AGAIN … PUT THOSE HANDCUFFS ON MY HANDS!"

They are concerned that the spread of liberty has been detrimental to the world.

Everywhere liberty goes, it leaves a path of destruction. Fast food, bad architecture, militarism, rampant greed, environmental destruction, imperial conquest, class struggle; these phenomena, when combined, seem to be synonymous with "Liberty."

So just as they call it "liberty" or "freedom" when war and greed stalk the land, Svenonius calls his band: CHAIN And The GANG …

For Svenonius , this is another step in a life spent trying to do as little as possible.

So you Philly types, looks like you can go quietly sooner than you think. Kindly report to the Barbary on April 27 for your shiny new manacles. They're all the rage this spring.

Photo: Rose Callahan

Just a reminder for my Philly friends: Tonight I will be doing a reading at the Random Tea Room.

Random Tea Room and Curiosity Shop
713 North 4th St.
Philadelphia
Wednesday, March 25th
6-8PM

See you babies tonight.

~W

(Photo: Rose Callahan)

Philly friends: I've been kindly invited to do a reading at The Random Tea Room, the finest tea house in Philadelphia. Won't you join us for some tea and laughs? It would be lovely to see you there.

Random Tea Room and Curiosity Shop
713 North 4th St.
Philadelphia
Wednesday, March 25th
6-8PM

We're hoping to make this an ongoing series: terrarium workshops, etc. Keep checking here for future events.

~W

The Missus has been stitching a gaggle of giant Pop-invertebrates for an upcoming show:

"Seriously, Stupidity"
Curated by our friends Adam Wallacavage and Damien Weinkrantz

Kung Fu Necktie
2nd Floor Exhibition Space
Front St. & Master St.
Philadelphia

Reception:
March 18, 2009
7:00-9:00

Featuring work by:

Drew Leshko
David Dunn
Danny Perez
Spencer Wunder
Mary Deevy
Manuel Dominguez, Jr.
Jessica Roberts
Brieann Robyn Tracey
Carrie Collins
Jason Goldberg
Isaac Lin
Kelly Turso
Adam Crawford
Aryon Hoselton
Andrew Jeffrey Wright
Ken Sigafoos
Ben Woodward
Judith Schaechter
Amber Lynn Thompson
Crystal Stokowski
Matt Leines
Jim Houser
Jayson Musson
Andrew Clark
Plankton Art Co.
Erich Weiss
Dan Tag
Dave Fox
Nick Paparone
Shelley Spector
Charles Burns

An all-star show! Hope to see all you Philly types there.

~W

The Ladies of Duchess are very pleased to announce that they will soon be visiting New York and Washington DC. The kind folks at Veloce Club in Soho will be hosting an open house for Duchess to meet with all of their New York clients and friends!

Veloce Club
17 Cleveland Place
(between Spring and Kenmare)
Monday, March 16th
6pm-midnight

The Duchesses will be there, ready to measure you, show you fabrics, answer any questions you may have, and sell you the suit and shirt of your dreams. Veloce Club will be operating as usual that evening, with their fine selection of wines and edibles.

I'll be joining the ladies that evening, so please drop by and say hello.

~W

For anyone interested: I have compiled a good deal of my nature photographs onto Flickr.




I have also started compiling our studio's work onto a separate Flickr account as well. Enjoy.

Friends: Not that it is of any compelling interest or consequence, but I thought I'd let you know that I'm curtailing my activities here for a while, as I am presently wrestling with a mountain of material that, with luck and pluck, will become viable book projects for the coming year. I am meeting with my agent soon, and I would hate to disappoint the man, as he's been more than patient with my prolonged inactivity. Well, not inactivity, really: I just had to do a little living to prime the proverbial pump. Fiction is quite tempting at times for this reason: nothing really has to actually happen to you, just around you. Lolling about in bed making crap up while I'm out drowning in godforsaken icy swamps, aren't you, you lazy sods!

Anyway, I will be poking my nose in on occasion and posting here and there, but not as compulsively as I have been. In the meantime: my suggestion box is open. If there is something you'd like me to address or attempt in future projects, now is the time to tell me. (Yes, I've already considered shutting up altogether, thank you very much.)

Until we met again, may you all stay happy and healthy. It's been a rough winter for many of us, but remember: spring is coming!

Your friend,
W

PS: If nothing comes to mind, feel free to do this dirty old scoundrel a favor and leave a cheesecake photo of yourself instead. You know: remind the boys at the front what they're fighting for. Who knows, it might um...become the cover art for the next book. Sure! ;)

PSS: You're also welcome to peruse my new Flickr account.

(Photo: Rose Callahan)

A last minute announcement for my Philly friends: Just got a phone call from my friend Ian Svenonius to tell me that he'll be doing a reading tonight at Juanita and Juans (11th & Cherry). More below:

Radio Silence book exhibition and Ian Svenonius at Juanita and Juans - January 2nd

Please join us on Friday, January 2nd, for a special event celebrating the release of the phenomenal new book Radio Silence: A Selected Visual History of American Hardcore Music. Featuring photography hung by the authors as well as a special performance by Ian Svenonius from Nation Of Ulysses, Cupid Car Club, The Make-Up, Scene Creamers, Weird War, author of The Psychic Soviet, host of the show Soft Focus, and all around righteous human.

This event is free and starts at 7pm. Please spread the word!

Refreshments will be provided.

Juanita and Juan's is located at 125 N. 11th St in Philadelphia on the corner of 11th and Cherry Streets, a block from the Chinatown bus stop. 267.519.3447.

Link