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 photo by Angelo Cricchi |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHAEL! Thank you for all you do. 
GOOD MORNING, WORLD Change can happen Yes, we can
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE From Steven Sebring: In honor of the upcoming election we invite you to check out this indictment clip from the film Patti Smith: Dream of Life and we would like to remind you [as if you need any help] to get out and vote... We are proud to announce that the film has just won the award for best documentary at the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa. The film has had a warm response and is receiving such thoughtful and poetic reviews. It is currently opening in regional theaters across the country. You may find a list of actual dates and theaters on the dreamoflifethemovie web site. We try to do our best updating it as often as possible...
CONGRATULATIONS PHILADELPHIA, CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE Toddy's team won!
REGISTER TO VOTE Register to vote! Click here to check whether you are already registered to vote now!
CONGRATULATIONSTO SAMUEL KAMAU WANSIRU OF KENYA Kenya's Samuel Kamau Wansiru crosses the finish line during men's marathon final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, on August. 24, 2008. Samuel Kamau Wansiru won the title and the gold and the laurels befitting a long distance runner.
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'THE CORAL SEA' NOW AVAILABLE Patti Smith and My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields are set to release a double-disc set of their live performance of The Coral Sea on July 7, 2008 on their own PASK imprint. The Coral Sea is Patti Smith's homage to her friend and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and the title of her 1996 book. Kevin Shields accompanies her on guitars and effects and creates a haunting backdrop to the spoken prose. The recordings were made June 22nd, 2005 and September 12th, 2006 at sold-out performances at the QEH in London. The set will run almost two hours with a different stylistic approach to each performance. The UK's Guardian upon reviewing the 2005 performance gave it 5 stars and called it 'magical.' Purchase "The Coral Sea" from Rocket Girl. Read Patti Smith's interview in The New York Times of July 13. Jon Pareles in The New York Times: The punk poet meets My Bloody Valentine's guitar-sonorities obsessive: not to rock but to read "The Coral Sea," Patti Smith's memorial to the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, which mingles her thoughts about him with hallucinatory vignettes of a sea voyage. The two CDs of "The Coral Sea" (PASK) include two complete hourlong performances, recorded live in 2005 and 2006. Ms. Smith makes her reading an incantation that sometimes shades into melody, delineating geographies and desires as anything but a detached observer. Mr. Shields surrounds her with billowing tremolo chords, edgeless sustained notes, rippling drones and stormy buildups. The 2005 performance works its way through discrete sections, effect by effect. A year later Mr. Shields turned "The Coral Sea" into an evolving, reverberating, nearly unbroken wash of sound, as boundless and mutable as the ocean itself. Pop Matters's Spencer Tricker calls The Coral Sea "certainly beautiful...a magnificent tribute and a monumental accomplishment in the career of one of America's truly outstanding artists". Read the entire review. A wonderful review in the Village Voice, by Don Allred: From the ambered memory and legacy of the artist-collector Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), his friend and colleague Patti Smith has drawn "the passenger M," whose name appears thus in her 1996 prose poem The Coral Sea, now a performance piece done in collaboration with My Bloody Valentine guitar hero Kevin Shields. M's abbreviation mark washes away as he (dreams that he) sets sail to find the Southern Cross--or at least glimpses "wet crepe, a beloved port, or a loved one fading, a tiny dot dissolving, in the vast grainy sea." But he's on his own way now (this isn't a Mapplethorpe biography), and even if he's glimpsed death, his sudden "weightless" relief isn't about casting off earthly snares and cares; instead, it's filled with "the earth-rageous scent of his own volition: The air is sweet..." Smith says "earth-rageous" in the second of two presentations, from 2005 and 2006, which comprise this double-disc set. Like all of her wordplay--as written, sometimes spontaneously spoken, and occasionally sung--it fits: The original M claimed that he never wanted his work to be outrageous. Even the photographer's Portfolio X, an eerie slow train of S&M-mad hopefuls, is fueled by the extended draining of pain (and shock, revulsion--all bad blood) from its sculpted wake. With the same intimate conviction, Smith rides and guides the diverging momentum of these two unstoppable shows, one 64 minutes long, the other 55. As M's visions and decisions ("He would dine on desire . . . ") keep zigzagging and spiraling through the last of his refiner's fire and oxygen, the tides of his veins, so Smith and M attune and recalibrate each other via the non-twangy raised and extended twang bar of Kevin Shields's otherwise-unaccompanied guitar (to say nothing of the metamorphic petals of his pedals). Shields's celestial navigation is as far as can be imagined from his recurring role as blowtorch-breathed gator in MBV; though a beast is waiting in and for M, so is something gorgeous. SPIN's Barry Walters gave "The Coral Sea" a four-star review: When she's singing, pioneering mystic punk Patti Smith can be extraordinarily mortal. But in recitation, she approaches the godly, delivering her poetry's surreal grace with sheer force. Here, she's captured twice in concert feverishly reading her phantasmagoric memorial to friend and artist Robert Mapplethorpe with the accompaniment of fellow savant Kevin Shields, the reclusive My Bloody Valentine leader who matches the ebb and flow of her morphing prose with thunderstorms of guitar sustain that weep and roar empathetically.
INGRID BETANCOURT we share great joy for the release of ingrid betancourt and her fellow hostages and send them our love and prayers. it is beautiful to be free.
 PATTI SMITH'S "AUGURIES OF INNOCENCE" ISSUED IN PAPERBACK Patti Smith's most recent book of poetry, Auguries of Innocence, has been issued in an expanded, paperback edition by Ecco Press. Read David Ulin's review in the Los Angeles Times.
PATTI SMITH, DOCTOR OF LETTERS Patti Smith was honored by Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, which granted her an honorary Doctor of Letters degree on May 16, 2008, in recognition of her success in the fields of music, literature and art. Read about the event on Rowan University's site and in the Press of Atlantic City. 
PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE TO PLAY AT NYC'S FILM FORUM Steven Sebring's film "Patti Smith: Dream of LIfe", recently featured at the Philadelphia and Sundance Film Festivals, will premiere in New York City at the Film Forum. It is scheduled to run from August 6 to August 19. Learn more about the film at its official site.
THE DROP EDGE OF YONDER:2008 Rudolph Wurlitzer's new novel, The Drop Edge of Yonder, has been published by Two Dollar Radio.
FONDATION CARTIER SHOW The Fondation Cartier is hosting a major solo exhibition of the visual work of American artist and performer Patti Smith. Drawn from pieces created between 1967 and 2007, it strives to provide an insight into her lyrical, spiritual and poetic universe. Her expressive voice serves to magnify the installations created specifically for the exhibition: a synthesis of photographs, drawings and films. Patti Smith began to take photographs in 1967 for use in collages. In 1995, she returned to photography using a vintage Polaroid Land 250: "The immediacy of the process was a relief from the long involved process of drawing, recording, or writing a poem." Many of Smith's photographs embody significant personal meaning: Robert Mapplethorpe's slippers, Virginia Woolf's bed, Hermann Hesse's typewriter and Arthur Rimbaud's utensils. Others serve as a visual record of her well-traveled life. The exhibition also features a selection of the artist's drawings, several of which are borrowed from prestigious institutions such as the MoMA and the Centre Pompidou or from private collections. The powerful yet subtle drawings have been executed with a calligraphic sense of line entwined with poetry and text. They represent her solitary side. Her collaborative side is represented in films directed by Robert Frank, Robert Mapplethorpe and Jem Cohen and the audio performance of The Coral Sea with Kevin Shields. She will shoot a short film, specially commissioned for the exhibition. The exhibit also includes cherished belongings taken from her personal archives. Among them original manuscripts, a photograph taken by Constantin Brancusi and a stone from the river in which Virginia Woolf committed suicide. Inspirations The source of much of her inspiration has been key figures of French culture, including Arthur Rimbaud, Nicole Stéphane, Jean Genet, Antonin Artaud and René Daumal. Paris echoes throughout, from drawings executed in the Montparnasse district, where she lived during her first Parisian sojourn in 1969, to recent photographs taken in the garden of the Fondation Cartier, situated nearby. A Comprehensive Project To reflect the multitude of fields explored by Patti Smith, the exhibition is intended to be a comprehensive project that expands beyond the exhibition space. The Fondation Cartier is giving free rein to Patti Smith to oversee the programming for the Nomadic Nights as well as performing herself, offering solo and band performances as well as informal poetry readings. The Fondation Cartier's bookshop will, for a time, become the artist's personal library. Her choice of books, CDs, films and objects will enable visitors to further penetrate the rich universe of this iconic artist. March 28 > June 22, 2008 Fondation Cartier web site R.E.M. Tour Blog visits the show.
OBAMA ASSESSES RACE IN AMERICA
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR PARK? What is happening to OUR Washington Square Park?
CONGRATULATIONS, STEVEN SEBRING Cinematographer Steven Sebring receives the Excellence in Cinematographer Award: Documentary for the film 'Patti Smith: Dream of Life' at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival awards night in Park City.
ARE OUR VOTING MACHINES SECURE? The cover story in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday, January 6, made plain the threat: The winner of the 2008 presidential election could be decided by flawed, insecure, and hackable electronic voting machines. Congress is poised to consider a new emergency paper ballots bill next week -- but we'll have to convince them to act right away. I signed a petition urging local, state, and federal officials to require paper ballots for our votes. Can you join me at this link, please?
iTUNES ORIGINALS NOW AVAILABLE Patti Smith's "iTunes Originals," a full-length set of new performances, classic tracks and revelatory interviews debuts exclusively on iTunes on Tuesday, January 8. Structured around new interviews and performances recorded at New York's Electric Lady Studios in the spring of 2007, the 90 minute "iTunes Originals" premieres new studio recordings of Smith's "pissing in the river," "ghost dance," and "peaceable kingdom" as well as exclusive new versions of the Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider," the Doors' "Soul Kitchen," and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," featuring guest artist Steve Earle. The "iTunes Originals" collection also includes the original 1978 studio recording of "because the night"; the 1996 digital remaster of "frederick"; Patti's meditation on Kurt Cobain "about a boy"; "beneath the southern cross" featuring the late Jeff Buckley and John Cale; "one voice" (from 2000's gung ho); "my blakean year" (from her Columbia Records debut album, 2004's trampin'); and a mind-bending performance of her signature opus "gloria: in excelsis deo," recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall in London on June 25, 2005 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the release of horses, Patti Smith's debut album. Purchase "iTunes Originals" at the iTunes Music Store
BENAZIR BHUTTO: Assassinated December 27, 2007 "You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea." Daughter of Destiny Two months ago, Benazir Bhutto returned to her homeland of Pakistan after eight years of exile. Now she is gone, along with the hopes that her presence might have represented a renewed unity amongst her people and government. Being a nuclear country, and its proximity to Afghanistan, alliance with a stable Pakistan is crucial to the Western World. Bhutto was prepared to take the risk to heal the divide, knowing the dangers and risks. She described herself as an "optimist in nature who put [her] faith in Pakistan and God in the effort to ward off extremists." She learned from her father that people had to stand up for what they believed in. She knew that the current government did not want a woman in a position of leadership. Her murder this morning was not unexpected, though as it unfolded and her valiance was silenced, her voice will continue in the hearts and minds of many. Benazir Bhutto first came to my attention in 1988 when she became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. At age 35, she was the first democratically elected woman leader in the Islamic world. Well educated and the essence of style, her physical demeanor, eloquent command of the language, and compelling message inspired me from the first time I saw her. Here was a woman of exceptional courage and conviction, who saw the execution of her father, the murder of her two brothers, the imprisonment of her husband, as well as her own persecution and did not hasten to heed the call of her people. She was a devotee of her faith, family, and country. As an Islamic world leader, she was hailed as one with great power. Now we are denied the fruits of her return into the world community. Hail, Benazir Bhutto. -- Andi Ostrowe
HUMAN ERROR: SAN FRANCISCO BAY
PATTI SMITH HOSTS BOB DYLAN PODCAST Patti Smith hosts music and conversation about Bob Dylan. His friends, early influences and collaborators discuss their close relationships with Dylan, the stories behind his greatest songs and other memorable moments of his career. Journalists and biographers add critical insights and provide historical contexts. A few of today's singer-songwriters also detail how Dylan's art influenced their own lives and careers. We also hear comments from Dylan, himself, from interviews recorded throughout the last 45 years. Learn more about the podcast. Subscribe on iTunes.
BROTHERS! WE ARE WITH YOU.
WHAT A WAR ON IRAN MIGHT LOOK LIKE Photos of the aftermath of Israel's air strikes on Lebanon give an idea of what a war on Iran might look like. View a slide show on Alternet.
PATTI SMITH PERFORMS IN THE CURRENT STUDIO Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye performed in the Current studio at Minnesota Public Radio.
 AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE COLON FILM COMMENTARY CREW class of 2007 photographed by Barre Duryea Well my dream came true. Not only did I get to do commentary on the new Aqua Teen Hunger Force film but I got to hang out with this stellar cast of characters. From left to right (I think) is Dana (the voice of Shake), Todd from the Onion, me (I got to hang out with her as well) Dave (the creator), Fred (lincoln timeline), Jackson (introduced me to The Force), and Jay (important guy). I was heavily compensated for my work with impressive free stuff including three pairs of meatwad socks (cotton not polyester), and an Adult Swim hoodie. I'm wearing the socks as I write. Don't miss the Force late at night on the Cartoon Network and certainly don't miss the thrilling breakthrough film.
WITHOUT CHAINS This song was written in early September 2006 in response to the release of Murat Kurnaz from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being detained for over four years. We are posting the song because of numerous requests. At this point the song may serve to raise questions as to the status of the Guantanamo detainees. This is a heart breaking legal and moral issue. We can not forget these human beings. Nor can we forget John Walker Lindh who has also served over four years of a twenty year sentence imposed without any hard evidence against him. Recently he was transferred from a medium-security prison in California to Supermax, the Federal Government's most secure prison. No explanation has been given. Our prayers are with him and others who have been imprisoned unjustly. We offer the song, as requested. Just a rough version. written with Tony Shanahan. Without Chains Download You may wish to review: Welcome Back Murat Kurnaz Free John Walker Without Chains by Patti Smith copyright 2007 For four long years I wasn't a man dreaming chained with the lights on in another world a netherworld four long years with nothing to say thoughts impure at Guantanamo Bay now I'm learning to walk without chains I'm learning to walk without chains learning to walk without chains without chains without chains born in bremen played guitar a young apprentice building ships loved and married heard the call is attaining wisdom a pursuit of fools journeyed to Pakistan to breathe the Koran taken in custody no reason why then a prison camp as an enemy Combatant (Chorus) Languished in a cell Four years and a day Then flown home A version of free Chained to the floor With eyes bound One last humiliation left to endure they say I walk strange that may be so its been a long time since I walked at all now I'm learning to walk without chains to talk without chains to breathe without chains to love etc... without chains without chains without chains
FIVE YEARS AGO No words can express the sorrow and frustration at marking this terrible anniversary. The loss of human life, destruction of Iraq and global instability. The abandonment of New Orleans is a microcosm of Baghdad. They are irrevocably joined. Our lack of attention, manpower and resources at home spiraled this public tragedy. All our resources, surplus, global goodwill squandered and spent. We are finding ourselves emotionally and physically bankrupt, just as Iraq. The Bush Administration falsely told the American people that the leadership of Iraq placed us in jeopardy. In the end, it has been the Bush Administration, burgeoned by cooperative media, that has led us so deeply astray. The lack of moral leadership in the Democratic party has also contributed to the present state of things. On the eve of the vote that gave Bush almost unanimous power to strike Iraq Senator Robert Byrd begged the Senate to reconsider. The Democrats, led by Joseph Lieberman, buckled under peer pressure and voted in favor of empowering Bush. Lieberman has shown himself to be pro-self and pro-war. It is impossible to conceive why the Democrats gave into him and snubbed Senator Byrd. On the eve of the strike against Iraq Byrd gave an impassioned speech laying out in very clear terms why the impending strike was wrong. It still brings tears to my eyes. We offer, in sad remembrance, Byrd's speech below. Thomas Paine said "We have it in our power to begin our world over again." We have to believe that but we also must take responsibility for the ruin committed in our name. Speech delivered on the floor of the US Senate by US Senator Robert Byrd March 19, 2003 3:45pm I believe in this beautiful country. I have studied its roots and gloried in the wisdom of its magnificent Constitution. I have marveled at the wisdom of its founders and framers. Generation after generation of Americans has understood the lofty ideals that underlie our great Republic. I have been inspired by the story of their sacrifice and their strength. But, today I weep for my country. I have watched the events of recent months with a heavy, heavy heart. No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. The image of America has changed. Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned. Instead of reasoning with those with whom we disagree, we demand obedience or threaten recrimination. Instead of isolating Saddam Hussein, we seem to have isolated ourselves. We proclaim a new doctrine of preemption which is understood by few and feared by many. We say that the United States has the right to turn its firepower on any corner of the globe which might be suspect in the war on terrorism. We assert that right without the sanction of any international body. As a result, the world has become a much more dangerous place. We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance. We treat UN Security Council members like ingrates who offend our princely dignity by lifting their heads from the carpet. Valuable alliances are split. After war has ended, the United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America's image around the globe. The case this Administration tries to make to justify its fixation with war is tainted by charges of falsified documents and circumstantial evidence. We cannot convince the world of the necessity of this war for one simple reason. This is a war of choice. There is no credible information to connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11. The twin towers fell because a world-wide terrorist group, Al Qaeda, with cells in over 60 nations, struck at our wealth and our influence by turning our own planes into missiles, one of which would likely have slammed into the dome of this beautiful Capitol except for the brave sacrifice of the passengers on board. The brutality seen on September 11th and in other terrorist attacks we have witnessed around the globe are the violent and desperate efforts by extremists to stop the daily encroachment of western values upon their cultures. That is what we fight. It is a force not confined to borders. It is a shadowy entity with many faces, many names, and many addresses. But, this Administration has directed all of the anger, fear, and grief which emerged from the ashes of the twin towers and the twisted metal of the Pentagon towards a tangible villain, one we can see and hate and attack. And villain he is. But, he is the wrong villain. And this is the wrong war. If we attack Saddam Hussein, we will probably drive him from power. But, the zeal of our friends to assist our global war on terrorism may have already taken flight. The general unease surrounding this war is not just due to "orange alert." There is a pervasive sense of rush and risk and too many questions unanswered. How long will we be in Iraq? What will be the cost? What is the ultimate mission? How great is the danger at home? A pall has fallen over the Senate Chamber. We avoid our solemn duty to debate the one topic on the minds of all Americans, even while scores of thousands of our sons and daughters faithfully do their duty in Iraq. What is happening to this country? When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends? When did we decide to risk undermining international order by adopting a radical and doctrinaire approach to using our awesome military might? How can we abandon diplomatic efforts when the turmoil in the world cries out for diplomacy? Why can this President not seem to see that America's true power lies not in its will to intimidate, but in its ability to inspire? War appears inevitable. But, I continue to hope that the cloud will lift. Perhaps Saddam will yet turn tail and run. Perhaps reason will somehow still prevail. I along with millions of Americans will pray for the safety of our troops, for the innocent civilians in Iraq, and for the security of our homeland. May God continue to bless the United States of America in the troubled days ahead, and may we somehow recapture the vision which for the present eludes us.
 AIN'T IT STRANGE from The New York Times, March 12, 2007 On a cold morning in 1955, walking to Sunday school, I was drawn to the voice of Little Richard wailing "Tutti Frutti" from the interior of a local boy's makeshift clubhouse. So powerful was the connection that I let go of my mother's hand. Rock 'n' roll. It drew me from my path to a sea of possibilities. It sheltered and shattered me, from the end of childhood through a painful adolescence. I had my first altercation with my father when the Rolling Stones made their debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Rock 'n' roll was mine to defend. It strengthened my hand and gave me a sense of tribe as I boarded a bus from South Jersey to freedom in 1967. Rock 'n' roll, at that time, was a fusion of intimacies. Repression bloomed into rapture like raging weeds shooting through cracks in the cement. Our music provided a sense of communal activism. Our artists provoked our ascension into awareness as we ran amok in a frenzied state of grace. My late husband, Fred Sonic Smith, then of Detroit's MC5, was a part of the brotherhood instrumental in forging a revolution: seeking to save the world with love and the electric guitar. He created aural autonomy yet did not have the constitution to survive all the complexities of existence. Before he died, in the winter of 1994, he counseled me to continue working. He believed that one day I would be recognized for my efforts and though I protested, he quietly asked me to accept what was bestowed -- gracefully -- in his name. Today I will join R.E.M., the Ronettes, Van Halen and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On the eve of this event I asked myself many questions. Should an artist working within the revolutionary landscape of rock accept laurels from an institution? Should laurels be offered? Am I a worthy recipient? I have wrestled with these questions and my conscience leads me back to Fred and those like him -- the maverick souls who may never be afforded such honors. Thus in his name I will accept with gratitude. Fred Sonic Smith was of the people, and I am none but him: one who has loved rock 'n' roll and crawled from the ranks to the stage, to salute history and plant seeds for the erratic magic landscape of the new guard. Because its members will be the guardians of our cultural voice. The Internet is their CBGB. Their territory is global. They will dictate how they want to create and disseminate their work. They will, in time, make breathless changes in our political process. They have the technology to unite and create a new party, to be vigilant in their choice of candidates, unfettered by corporate pressure. Their potential power to form and reform is unprecedented. Human history abounds with idealistic movements that rise, then fall in disarray. The children of light. The journey to the East. The summer of love. The season of grunge. But just as we seem to repeat our follies, we also abide. Rock 'n' roll drew me from my mother's hand and led me to experience. In the end it was my neighbors who put everything in perspective. An approving nod from the old Italian woman who sells me pasta. A high five from the postman. An embrace from the notary and his wife. And a shout from the sanitation man driving down my street: "Hey, Patti, Hall of Fame. I just smiled, and I noticed I was proud. One for the neighborhood. My parents. My band. One for Fred. And anybody else who wants to come along.
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