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�k�9×�H³http://JOSHKEYES.AR×�×�Ðˆ×‰EÚ ¼JAN. 31 | 6â€“10 PM
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×‰	Ú 7cassandra://FiYAy4NgGR-Huc8KPkrXtN_g5hPqQJ8IgU1clLFoN08Í+�Í`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{®%ÕÁzØ×‰EÚ0ISSUE 133 | JANUARY 2025
ZHIYONG JING, DREAMLAND - BEST OF BIRDY 100
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×‰E·MOON PATROL, SEA WITCH
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No. 133
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No. 133
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×‰	Ú 7cassandra://-rlM4hkzD1ycBuQ16g0SLTLihX6S45zE8GGsVEMQ7ksÍ"JÍ`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{®%ÕÁzß�×gu{®%ÕÁzÞ�ÍÚÍ×‘C’×˜š�   �ÍíÍ�u×‰œ“×‰	Ú 7cassandra://YuWloBeaGF05FdKAEYxvrvOeWEqg-SNUXj5auJdJWpwÎ 	óÍ`�ÍðÍµ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://JeEfEZSBPzW7OYCKTFfy6k47a-8b1YS8HnwnvtJL034ÍŒ§Í`�ÍrÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://8dHXRqsj4Wqdkc8K2A5y9l_Z--EsBUwuvDd7P1EeG0kÍ.¿Í`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{±%ÕÁz×˜š� Íí �ÍíÍ�u×‰œ“×‰	Ú 7cassandra://VldgkIAxjuTh5ruv0O1glVzM9ltsFolJI3s867dJMl0Î ²�Í`�ÍðÍµ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://A61hh1qXQ3oW4w9DM44ERIZY6GYx2sPR9nVGBPJPwdYÍ¬¡Í`�ÍrÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://cAuOcMU0cW5OS3u_RgZ2_fIDLPZj8KL9uj6kuMLK-7gÍ2Í`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{±%ÕÁz×‰EÚ gJASON WHITE, BUG CATS - BEST OF BIRDY 104
MATTHEW C. MARINER, BRUNCH BLOOD - BEST OF BIRDY 044
No. 133
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No. 133
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×‰	Ú 7cassandra://XTnXKgy_VGzVnXaE5Xo5BLQMrv-4Yw5K8UnBlCwsycUÍ�Í`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{®%ÕÁzä×‰EÚÕTT
Amy never meant to build an automaton. She didnâ€™t know how to make anything. Nevertheless in her
basement one day she heaped laundry baskets and car batteries and garden hoses in such a fashion that
they sparked and entered unto a congress and coughed up life.
â€œAwesome!â€� was the first word the creature said, parroting her Amyâ€™s reaction. So thatâ€™s what Amy
named her: Awesome. Awesome was lumpy and messy and beautiful, just like Amyâ€™s mom always told
her she was.
Over time Awesome came to love Amy.
But after years together there was nothing she could do to save the woman from the disease she had
been born with. No one could do anything. All humans had it.
Death, they named it.
Â° â‰ˆ Â°
The sky was the color of pumpkins the day Awesome carried Amy to the basement and entombed the
remnant of her flesh in the furnace. The woman had lived a long time, some forty-seven years.
Time was to Awesome what wind was to a fish.
Children ran down the sidewalk next to the house. They ran always, so long and fast they split their skins
and angels flew from their brittle shed youth. Awesome stood there, too bereaved to move, and watched
the children from the basement window.
Run, change, fade.
It wasnâ€™t fair, she told herself. So, as the sun dissolved into the horizon one dinnertime, she captured one
of the children and caged her near the furnace in her basement.
The child refused to share her name, so Awesome called her Cage. She was the hungriest thing Awesome
had ever seen.
âˆ�
Cage escaped many times over the course of that winter. Awesome invariably found the child on the
couch upstairs, watching cartoons and eating dry Kool-Aid out of the package. On her tenth escape, the
box fans and bed sheets comprising her prison had finally been rent beyond repair.
â€œYour room is empty,â€� said Awesome softly in Cageâ€™s ear.
â€œI was hungry,â€� the girl shrugged.
â€œWhat did you eat?â€�
â€œEverything.â€�
Awesome ran clanking and steaming to the window. There were no children outside, no sidewalk. Just the
slick, gulping pulse of muscle.
Cage squished syllables into the silence; her breath smelled of plaster.
â€œWhy are we whispering?â€�
â€œBecause thereâ€™s a ghost in the furnace,â€� said Awesome, turning from the window, â€œand she swallows
those who leave vacuums.â€�
â€œA ghost! Whatâ€™s her name?â€�
Awesomeâ€™s voice dropped even lower than a whisper, quieter than Cage could make out.
Then the girl heard a crumpled flutter, like aluminum foil in a garbage disposal.
Before Cage could run, Awesome hollowed out a pocket in her torso and took her into it. Laundry-basket
ribs and garden-hose arteries and car-battery atria slid back into place. Cage sat nested in Awesomeâ€™s
breast like the cartoons inside the TV set.
â€œItâ€™s okay, Cage,â€� Awesome said, ambling toward the front door with the girl inside her, a bit off balance
due to her new weight.
The girlâ€™s fists beat tenderly against her sternum in a steady rhythm, like a drummerâ€™s.
â€œShush. The ghost is gone now.â€�
13
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://8CpmfJL0LWMZCS_KUJCbp0nKf4NdEeheNF_OOubmOsMÍóÍ`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{®%ÕÁzå�×gu{®%ÕÁzä�ÍÚÍ×‘C’×˜š�   �ÍíÍ�u×‰œ“×‰	Ú 7cassandra://6ug1ip6C-zcxBLn7CRw2UlEt_4mFv_aAGAAb6ptrRUwÎ /iÍ`�ÍðÍµ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://HZHBL-uGwx2-cJgCy-E7lwFz1onQgggmTvBIPl-Czb4Í… Í`�ÍrÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://LboSHu_qtbFNzZpkcHmc7PcHD5OwgKTPLuIMaKrpHHMÍ+tÍ`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{²%ÕÁz×˜š� Íí �ÍíÍ�u×‰œ“×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Jf_RDxFfPpkEybneLrRNmiVCu8aOC5e7VcKuiNeWMgEÎ a.Í`�ÍðÍµ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://c0CdXHYlEIR6kh-jquynew7EEfK_Z0bpRtWmKcOVjcwÍTAÍ`�ÍrÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://szqMwNrHvBKYqkNInP-nnxTE3K6kxvEPieBEoODJjmAÍ"©Í`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{²%ÕÁz×‰EÚ÷By Hana Zittel
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (2024)
On July 3 1988, Iran Air Flight 655, a plane filled with 290 occupants
heading from Tehran to Dubai, was shot down by the USS Vincennes,
a United States Naval ship. All occupants on board were immediately
killed. Poet Kaveh Akbarâ€™s first novelâ€™s trajectory starts here. Roya
Shams, mother of Cyrus Shams, was heading to Dubai that day to visit
her brother, a man shattered from the trauma he faced on the battlefield
of the Iran-Iraq War. The lives of Cyrus and his father, Ali, crumbled
after Roya died. Left alone to take care of a small baby, Ali made the
decision to uproot their life in Iran, seizing an opportunity to work
on a chicken farm in Indiana.
Plagued by near constant insomnia and parentless after his father
died when he started college, Cyrus, now in his late 20s, is a selfproclaimed
poet (without much work to show for it) and in recovery
from addiction to both alcohol and drugs. His day job as a medical
actor, playing sick and terminally ill patients for medical students
to practice delivering bad news and diagnoses, leaves him thinking
of death all day long. Cyrusâ€™ thoughts of dying and considerations
of suicide have left him questioning what it means for a death to be
significant, to mean something. His motherâ€™s death was so instant, so
random and meaningless, that he needs to know what the opposite could
be. At an open mic, his friend mentions a new art exhibit opening in
Brooklyn. An Iranian woman dying of breast cancer is spending her final
days in the museum, talking to anyone about anything they want. Cyrus
is persuaded to go, to ask her about death, meaning and martyrdom.
Akbarâ€™s novel is fluid, inventive and marked with elegant character
development. Cyrus and his family are all full, developed, and complex
characters with secrets and hidden pasts set against unimaginable
tragedy and trauma. One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2024,
Kaveh Akbarâ€™s first journey into the novel format is a captivating,
twisting and truly an original story. He is the author and editor of
many other poetry collections including 2021â€™s Pilgrim Bell, a finalist
for both the Forward Prize for Best Collection and Maya Angelou Book
Award.
Portrait of a Body by Julie Delporte, Translated by Helge Dascher
and Karen Houle (2024)
â€œI had never really erotized men either. Iâ€™d fall for them the way you
fall for a sofa in a Nordic furniture catalogue â€¦â€�
Julie Delporteâ€™s latest graphic novel is a beautiful meditation on
queerness, trauma, sex and self. Delporte came out at 35 as she began
to understand her attraction to women, and how her previous attitude
and lack of enjoyment of sex was due to conformity to heteronormative
standards. Through this acceptance of her sexuality, she altered her
views on how she should behave, dress and move through the world,
making her way to an authentic existence.
Drawn with soft colored pencil, Delporteâ€™s illustrations feel light
and dreamlike, like we are meandering through her thoughts and inner
world. Matched with penciled text in perfect, hand-drawn cursive,
Portrait of a Body is as intimate visually as it is in story. An honest
and raw memoir, Portrait of a Body is an openhearted coming out story
and unfiltered look at the quest for oneâ€™s true self.
No. 133
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â€œGet back here, El!â€�
Her fatherâ€™s words are distant, subdued by the ringing in her ears, by the
patter of her sneakers pounding into the pavement.
Ringo senses her approach by her keys, pushes its door open for Ellie. She
slips inside, the door automatically locking shut behind her. Her breath is
ragged, rivulets of tears and blood sheening her cheeks. Thereâ€™s a dull pounding
beside her â€” Ellieâ€™s father slamming his fist into Ringoâ€™s passenger window.
Ellie flinches at the last thud, the whole of the 2037 Volkswagen vibrating as it
disperses the force.
â€œOpen this fucking door, El!â€�
She canâ€™t control her breath, unable to look at him, unable to move.
No. 133
A line of black-and-white LED text scrolls across Ringoâ€™s screen: â€œWhere
would you like to go?â€�
Her voice trembles, no more than a whisper escaping her lips, â€œAnywhere.â€�
Ringo slams the gas, throwing Ellie back into her seat. She doesnâ€™t look back,
hearing her fatherâ€™s screams fade into the distance, trying not to think of the
rage sheâ€™ll endure when she returns. She curls up into the leather seat as the
sobs take hold of her, her body feeling finally that itâ€™s safe to let go, to let the
waves of despair break their dam through a rush of shivering tears.
Ringo warms the seat for her and drives on into the night.
Ellie sleeps.
When she wakes at dawn, Ringoâ€™s pulled off into a scenic outlook along Skyline
ART BY ROB C MILLER
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alcohol freed her fatherâ€™s demons, loosed upon them both. Theyâ€™d go for long
drives together through the Blue Ridge Mountains, Abbey Road filling Ringoâ€™s
interior with a brightness they never experienced at home. Theyâ€™d pretend this
was their life, carefree travelers on the open road. Theyâ€™d pretend they didnâ€™t
have to go back. It was on one of those nights, belting out, Oh! Darling, with her
mother when they gave Ringo its name.
Ellie smiles at the memory, a smile that fades too quickly, a dying ember
failing to catch fire. She pushes the door open and walks to the ridge, tree
covered mountains undulating before her. Her thoughts are clouded just as the
sky above â€” dark and brooding. Thunder rumbles and cracks, curtains of rain
drowning the mountains in the distance. She wraps her arms around herself,
feeling the storm's chill seep away what little warmth she has. I should go back,
she thinks. I have to go back.
She walks back to Ringo, stepping into the driverâ€™s side seat.
â€œLetâ€™s go home,â€� she says.
â€œHome?â€� the LED text reads.
â€œYes, home.â€� Ellie repeats. She expects the engine to hum to life, for Ringo to
lurch forward and carry her back to her father. But nothing happens. The LED
text remains blank.
Ringo pushes the rearview mirror in toward her.
Ellie looks up, sees herself for the the first time. Her left eye is black and
purple, dried blood streaked down from her split eyebrow. She shivers at the
sadness she sees in her own eyes. She canâ€™t look away, even as her eyes again
begin to well with tears.
â€œWhere would you like to go?â€� Ringoâ€™s LED text scrolls.
Wind rushes through Ellieâ€™s hair, curly waves of gold in the late afternoon sun.
She can smell the ocean on the air, taste the salt water on her tongue. A green
sign flashes past her reading: â€œSan Diego â€” 28.â€� Thousands of miles, the whole
of the country, stand between her and her old life.
Thatâ€™s how sheâ€™s come to think of it, more and more with each passing day
â€” my old life. As if the Ellie of San Diego, CA and the Ellie of Grottoes, VA are
two different people â€” as if where we are is inextricably connected to who we
are. With every town her and Ringo stop in, she finds that ember growing just
a little brighter inside of her. Sure, she has just enough gas to make it to the
hostel that costs the last of her savings â€” but it doesnâ€™t matter. She feels free
for the first time in her whole life.
Little darling, itâ€™s been a long cold lonely winter, Ellie sings over McCartney and
Harrison, thinking of her mom. She thinks of her mom often. She wishes she
was with her now, wishes theyâ€™d decided to run away together long ago.
Ringo pulls down Newport Ave in Ocean Beach. It parks in front of a pink
picket fence that marks the front of her hostel; a rainbow peace sign sitting
atop the buildingâ€™s peaked roof. Ringoâ€™s LED text reads: â€œArrived.â€�
Ellie goes inside to check in. Sheâ€™s helped by a man in his late 30s, still in his
wetsuit from the morning surf. â€œIs this your place?â€� she asks.
The man smiles, â€œNah â€” I was just following the coast, letting my skateboard
lead the way, you know? It brought me here, and I havenâ€™t been able to leave
since. Thereâ€™s no place on earth better than OB â€” youâ€™re gonna love it.â€�
Thereâ€™s a kindness in his eyes, a sincerity that makes her believe him.
â€œIs that one of those self-drivers?â€� the man asks.
Ellie glances out the window at Ringo. â€œIt is,â€� she says proudly.
â€œWow â€” thatâ€™s rad. Howâ€™d you get it?â€�
â€œIt was my momâ€™s.â€�
â€œRight on,â€� he hands over the key to the room. â€œYouâ€™re all set, Ellie. If you ever
need anything, Iâ€™m around â€” just ask for Bodi.â€�
Ellieâ€™s room is on the second floor, looking out to the courtyard in the back.
Thereâ€™s a mural outside her window: a unicorn with a purple horn jumping
through a rainbow, and a banner above waving in and out of the clouds. â€œYouâ€™re
exactly where you need to be,â€� Ellie reads aloud to herself.
She sets her backpack down and falls back onto the bed, soft linens floating
her above the world.
â€œIâ€™m exactly where I need to be,â€� she says, smiling.
Ellie feels the onrush of the wave and adjusts her stance â€” too late. Her feet
slip, the surfboard sliding out from underneath her. The wave crashes overhead,
plunging her into the cool salt water. She floats in the dark of the ocean for
an instant, adrift, then swims to the surface. She grabs onto Bodiâ€™s borrowed
surfboard tethered to her ankle and paddles in.
â€œThat was a rad wipe out,â€� Bodi says.
Ellie laughs, â€œYou think everythingâ€™s rad.â€�
â€œEverything is rad.â€�
Ellie chuckles, looks to her watch. â€œI should get to work. Same time tomorrow
morning?â€�
â€œIf the surf calls,â€� he shrugs.
Ellie smiles at him. Bodi says he doesnâ€™t have a schedule (says further that
â€œtime is just a construct of our minds, manâ€�), but she knows heâ€™ll be here
tomorrow morning, same as always.
She walks up Newport Ave and climbs into Ringoâ€™s back seat. â€œTo work,â€� she
says. Ringo juts off toward downtown San Diego as Ellie changes out of her
wetsuit in the back. Dressed, she climbs up into the driverâ€™s seat, admiring the
skyline in the early morning light.
â€œCan you believe it, Ringo?â€� she asks, in awe of these past few weeks, feeling
more and more distant from her life back East.
Ringo parks around the corner from The Invigatorium where Ellie started as a
barista a few weeks back. She gives Ringo a pat on the hood and heads inside
to clock in, waving good morning to her boss, Drew. One of her coworkers said
to keep an eye on him, but he seems nice enough to Ellie. After all, he gave her
a job with no more experience than managing concessions at a high school gym.
The day passes without much event, Ellie spending the quiet moments making
lists inside of her notebook. She sketches a banner at the top of one page that
says: â€œWhat do I want to DO with my life?!â€� In all those days staring up at the
ceiling in her room, hiding from life inside the confines of her headphones, she
only ever thought about leaving. But her home was a black hole, encircled in an
event horizon she could never see beyond. She could never imagine what life
could be like beyond its grasp â€” until now.
At the end of the day Ellieâ€™s cleaning the espresso machine, getting ready to
clock out when she sees Drew come up to her.
â€œHey El, you mind giving me a ride home?â€� he asks. â€œSome jag uploaded a virus
to my wheels. I canâ€™t even get the door open.â€�
â€œOf course â€” just give me a second to finish up here,â€� Ellie says.
â€œYouâ€™re a lifesaver. Iâ€™ll meet you by Ringo.â€�
She finishes up and meets him outside, the two of them sliding inside Ringoâ€™s
cozy interior as it hums to life, Abbey Road starting up as it always does.
â€œYou like The Beatles?â€� Drew asks, sounding surprised.
â€œTheyâ€™re all I listen to.â€�
â€œWow, and here I thought your generation had bad taste in music.â€�
â€œWhat does my generation listen to.â€�
â€œYou know â€” the fake shit. Half the songs I hear on the radio today are written
by some AI, manufacturing synthetic beats AB tested to soothe our ears.
Speaking of which, isnâ€™t this a self-driver?â€�
â€œYeah, but sometimes I miss the feel of driving,â€� Ellie says, taking in the soft
grooved leather wheel underneath her hands.
â€œYou should put it on cruise for a bit,â€� he says, sliding his hand to her knee.
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â€œWhat do you mean?â€� he asks, hand unmoved.
â€œDrew, take your hand off me.â€�
â€œOh come on â€” you know you want to.â€�
â€œNo â€” I donâ€™t." Ellie grabs his hand by the wrist, throwing it back across the
console, eyes unmoved from the road.
â€œCome on El, I thought we had an understanding here?â€� Drew says, slithering
his hand back across the console, underneath the hem of Ellie's skirt. â€œI hired
you for a reason.â€�
â€œGet your hand off me, Drew.â€�
He squeezes her thigh.
Ellie shivers.
Ringoâ€™s LED text scrolls: â€œAccident risk â€” interior.â€�
Drewâ€™s seat back thrashes forward, slamming his head into the dashboard, his
nose cracking against hardened plastic. He whips back with a groan, holding his
hand to his nose, blood spurting down his chin.
â€œWhat the fuck?â€� he groans.
Ellie white-knuckles the steering wheel, feeling her pulse quicken, feeling
that tingle of fear prickle the base of her skull, the same feeling she always felt
around her father.
Drew wipes blood off his palm. â€œChrist â€” what is wrong with you?â€�
â€œIt wasnâ€™t â€¦â€�
â€œPull the car over here.â€�
Ellie hesitates, unsure what heâ€™ll do if she stops.
â€œI said pull over!â€�
Drew leans over to grab the steering wheel, but his seatbelt snaps against his
chest, fastening him to his seat. He strains against it, shouts, â€œTell your fucking
car to cut this out, El!â€�
As he writhes, Ellie glances to see the seatbelt constricting around him,
â€œAccident risk â€” interiorâ€� still written across Ringoâ€™s screen. She takes her hand
off the wheel and yanks at Drewâ€™s seatbelt, jamming her thumb into the red
button to free it. But the button wonâ€™t move, the buckleâ€™s locked in.
Drew cries out in pain as the belt fastens tighter, its zigzagging imprint
burning into his skin. He finds his breath shallowing, the seatback and belt
compressing his chest. â€œEl,â€� he says through gasped air. â€œTell it to stop â€” now.â€�
â€œRingo, cut it out!â€� she screams.
The belt tightens.
Ellie turns to Drew, seeing a glint of fear in his eyes, realizing heâ€™s powerless,
realizing theyâ€™re both powerless. The fear in her own mind is numbed by shock.
That ringing returns to her ears, the tinnitus that makes reality seem distant,
like sheâ€™s no more than a far away passenger to this story.
Traffic rushes around them and she hears across a chasm of awareness Drewâ€™s
gasping breath beside her. Her eye twitches at a crack of bone, the seatbelt
carving into Drewâ€™s hips. She pulls away form him, averting her gaze, fingers
tingling with numbness.
She hears short, sharp gasps. Desperation. She feels absently a hand, cold
fingers claw at her arm. She does not move. She lets the numbness still her.
And then there is quiet.
Only the hiss in her ears, and a colorful array of cars streaming around her.
Ringoâ€™s LED text reads: â€œAccident risk â€” resolved.â€�
Through the hiss she hears Abbey Road turn to the next track: â€œThe End.â€�
Oh yeah, all right,
Are you going to be in my dreams
Tonight?
BEST OF BIRDY 099
No. 133
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Upon any block or curb, a tiny bit of liquid or condensation
may gather prior to vanishing into the ether â€¦ a puddle
may catch oneâ€™s eye and cast a gaze back inversely â€¦
TO smile back or grimace a response so honest
we claw at the day GLO antiFREEZE â€” smelling of
alkaline mines upon an acrid plain that is brittle and
fickle â€” crackles and snaps under DUNKS of hoofed
boots as mountains upon NEPTUNE exude secluded
glue. Spooned up by MARTIN and baby HELMET folk
aboard a PIE-SHAPE LID or DISC that sips of COSMIC
VAPOR, SPACE GRAVITATIONAL ARC welders stay
attached by humble GROMMETS that WALLACE and
MICK RONSON told a STAR MAN would suffice.
Tricycles often spin out of brown clouds of MOON
DUST that ANGELS and DEMONS prance and gyrate like
EPILEPTIC GIRAFFESâ€™ laugher at watering holes upon a
CIRCUSâ€™ dark half.
RADIOACTIVE particles cascade infinite spectacles that
fracture into prisms given by kooky mathematics folk
as a joke to elaborate the perilous joy of FRACTALS, as
diving as deep to the bottom of the puddle, as diving
into the infinity inside the patterns of nature, a computer
VOMITS back as a colorful vortex or OCULUS can see â€¦
So
BE THE PUDDLE SO FILTHY
AND EYE SO BLIND TO MISS
THE COMETâ€™S KISS UPON
TAILS THAT ANNIHILATE
ALL MATTER UPON ITSELF
AS THE DROPS EVAPORATE
OUR SKILL AND ABILITY
TO MAKE HATE, FUCK OR KILL
IN A HUBRIS OUTSIDE
OUR OWN WILL.
5:45 am 8.5.24.00000003 OGE
FOLLOW FOR MORE â€” IG: @UZIEGO | TUMBLR: @SAVAGESNEVERSLEEPNYC
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BY TOM MURPHY
In the annals of Denver underground music history, one of the names that
garners the most respect of local punk and alternative rock are post-punk/
garage rock legends The Fluid. Since splitting in 1993, the bandâ€™s records
have become something of collectors items for the cognoscenti or those
who were simply there to witness the passion and camaraderie of Richard
Kulwicki, Matt Bischoff, John Robinson, Garrett Shavlik and James Clower
in action and giving their all on stage. The Fluid were the first non-Pacific
Northwest band to sign to Sub Pop after having already made connections
in the region through touring and becoming part of a network of mutual
musical influence with the Seattle grunge scene. But their impact went
much further, and in Denver, their influence as a band â€” and as people â€”
extended for years and continues to this day.
But the records had long been out of print until December 6, 2024 when
Sub Pop reissued the first three full-length albums, Punch N Judy (1986),
Clear Black Paper (1988) and Roadmouth (1989), as well as the Glue EP
(1990) and a new collection of outtakes and 8-track versions of songs
called Overflow. Not to mention the â€œTin Top Toyâ€� single and the â€œCandy
(Live - From Nirvana Split).â€� All remastered by grunge scene engineer Jack
Endino and JJ Golden with remixes overseen by Endino and the band. The
albums, the collection and the EP are now available in handsome colored
No. 133
vinyl editions through the Sub Pop website or at your local record store.
Donâ€™t worry, completionists, the Freak Magnet EP is included with the
download of Clear Black Paper.
When the band unexpectedly reunited in 2008 for the Sub Pop 20th
anniversary shows that July, I was living in a warehouse space with
Kurt Ottaway (Twice Wilted, Tarmints, Overcasters, Emerald Siam,
Leathervains) where the band was doing its early rehearsals. John Call of
Veronica was initially filling in on drums before Shavlik and Robinson could
be on hand for the Denver show practices ahead of the Sub Pop show and
subsequent 2009 tour dates in New Jersey, Brooklyn and Seattle again. I
got to know the members of the band â€” mostly Bischoff and Kulwicki â€”
and came to like and respect them as people even more than musicians.
And those reunion shows were proof positive that The Fluid were one of
the most vital and electrifying bands Denver has ever produced. All the
songs Iâ€™d heard from what I could get of their albums came to vivid focus
in a way that was immediately inspiring and gave the music its living
context. Peers like Mark Arm of Mudhoney and Thurston Moore and Kim
Gordon of Sonic Youth showed up to the 2009 gigs in Seattle and Brooklyn
respectively as fans of the Denver legends.
The band has already spoken to the varied means by which it recorded
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budget was knocking down the doors of a Denver band that was
clearly drawing on the likes of Detroit proto-punk, Nuggets-era
garage psych and the Stones. But the songwriting had been strong
from the beginning. The raw excitement of â€œYouâ€� from the first
album is undeniable. Clear Black Paper is a long-time fan favorite and
gets a boost in sound with the remaster kicking off with the classic
raver, â€œCold Outside.â€� The highly underrated Roadmouth and Glue
are the best sounding records in their original form the band ever put
out. But both are packed full of songs that showcased how The Fluid
were not really riding the grunge bandwagon, but had plenty of bite
and intensity on their own with songs about gritty human reality.
Except The Fluidâ€™s music never seemed to be brimming with personal
darkness, its songs burned with an expansive spirit of perseverance
and even joy. Kulwicki tragically passed away on February 15, 2011.
But this reintroduction of The Fluidâ€™s work in such a loving format
would have made him proud, because it has aged better than a lot of
the music of its time and is worth revisiting in full.
FOR MORE, VISIT QUEENCITYSOUNDSANDART.WORDPRESS.COM
25
×‰	Ú 7cassandra://Hvr8ldqUv-DyoAH-xImDUcJddP8Vo-JQ-Q2a5E7LpdkÍ,nÍ`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{®%ÕÁzñ�×gu{®%ÕÁzð�ÍÚÍ×‘C’×˜š�   �ÍíÍ�u×‰œ“×‰	Ú 7cassandra://tuwbomA3P1q8GQfcdGEViSMFGbgjYKghvDg8j2xjxEgÎ ºÏÍ`�ÍðÍµ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://2nWLvLFX9kqu5t8jI9KlcABRXKET_AbEguT6Qhpa59YÍ‘ÿÍ`�ÍrÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://bh0MXGNYMwGzjQcZADkDtpTwe_6BmrcBBkw2zI2fVMsÍ#~Í`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{º%ÕÁz1×˜š� Íí �ÍíÍ�u×‰œ“×‰	Ú 7cassandra://_oN6R6oNeJBMklVR-NdTjHExwQUR9cuhjq3jiHMyN9gÎ ù4Í`�ÍðÍµ×‰	Ú 7cassandra://o1nLLU7R-fUgxvZ46rGelFjV3nBdIWy7dG2oOI54kFAÍgÉÍ`�ÍrÍà×‰	Ú 7cassandra://NlEN-CN81vBjJt8u_51968Zj_RI04yACQt2Bqu0iUR0Í$èÍ`�ÌÅÍ �×gu{º%ÕÁz2×‰EÚ¦I have no idea who I really am. My mind offers me visions of myself
in the past, present, future. Some of these visions happened. Some of
them are happening. Some will happen or not happen at all. Everything
that lives inside my head is my interpretation of events, and mine alone.
And itâ€™s a swirling mess of contradiction. Sometimes I envision myself
as a future lover with partners I will never even kiss. Other times Iâ€™m a
loser who doesnâ€™t deserve love. One minute, I might think I know what
Iâ€™m doing. Most other minutes, I have no clue. Some days I see my death
years from now, and Iâ€™m happy and surrounded by loved ones. Most days,
I die alone. Every day I die alone. In my head, I am congruently beautiful,
ugly, the second smartest person ever, the third dumbest, a pleasure to
be around, undeserving of friends, loads of fun, a total drag, talented,
worthless, a joy, a plague. And when I see myself in the past, Iâ€™m proud
that Iâ€™ve overcome so much hardship. But I mean, what did I do really? I
impressed one person. Embarrassed myself in front of the other. I have
trophies somewhere â€” probably in a landfill now. Iâ€™ve accomplished
amazing things that Iâ€™ve totally forgotten about. Does any of it mean
anything? Currently, I love life and hate every second of it. I want to live
another 50 years. I want to die tomorrow. I miss being younger. I want to
be older. I need to be older. I have to get older, right? I hate myself right
now, but tonight it may be a different story. Where did I go wrong? Can I
make it right? Did they have it coming? Did I? Do I? Where do I see myself
in 10 years, hours, minutes? What do I have to show for the last 10 years,
hours, minutes? Will I ever fucking be okay? Have I ever been okay? What
if Iâ€™m never okay? Now is not okay. But Iâ€™m listening to a record that was
my favorite 20 years ago. Itâ€™s still here. Iâ€™m still here. I feel like thereâ€™s
something profound in that, but I donâ€™t know what it is. Why do I have
trouble breathing sometimes? Thatâ€™s not how I was designed biologically.
Maybe Iâ€™m an evolutionary mistake. That would explain some things
around here. Could you read this and give me notes? There are always
notes, arenâ€™t there? Itâ€™s too much too soon. Itâ€™s a day late and a dollar
short. So many notes. So many opinions. That frame over there on the
wall â€” itâ€™s always, I donâ€™t know, just off. I donâ€™t even know how to adjust
it. I donâ€™t think you can. Because every time you do, itâ€™s off in another
way. In a way none of us ever saw coming. We canâ€™t ever see it coming,
can we? Itâ€™s a boring whirlwind. Controlled chaos. Level-headed calamity.
What if I gave everything I had so I could shine my brightest for an hour?
Would you notice? Would you lose interest? What about 10 minutes? One
minute? Can I just ask you one question? I guess I just did. Itâ€™s a shame you
donâ€™t want to know what I had to say. It really is. Because thatâ€™s all I ever
wanted. I guess I also wanted you to care. Or at least to see how much I
cared. Because I always cared so much. And I still do. What if I imagined
a version of you that understood? You didnâ€™t ask demeaning questions.
You werenâ€™t embarrassed by my earnestness. You didnâ€™t hate the fact I
was still in your life. You just listened. You held my hand and said, â€œI know
what thatâ€™s like. I get it.â€� And then we laughed and cried at the absurdity
of everything. I just needed you to understand what you could never in a
million years understand. But you have your own brain. Your own mind
that needs to make sense of things. That sees a version of yourself in the
past, present, future. You are a hero and a failure. Pretty, unattractive,
bright, dull, worthy, unworthy. Iâ€™m sure there were things you wanted
me to see about you that I missed as well. Of course there were. I have a
No. 133
million apologies for that, and I know you heard one of them. Just know
that there are more. So many more. Anyway, I know youâ€™re not actually
here. No one else is. And itâ€™s probably too late anyway. It definitely is. I see
you in my past. But youâ€™re not here now. I canâ€™t even picture your face right
now â€” definitely not enough to pretend youâ€™re in the future. I know youâ€™re
not there. I just wish â€¦ Well, I wish so many things. Too many things. Iâ€™m
sure Iâ€™ll spend my entire life wishing. That I did things differently. That I
will do things differently. That I have it in me to do things differently in
this moment. Iâ€™m destined to want everything to not be how it is. I donâ€™t
like how it is. I probably wonâ€™t ever like how it is. That frame on the wall.
You adjusted it, didnâ€™t you? Itâ€™s off, but not like before. I remember now.
How you spent all day wishing it were different. â€œIt doesnâ€™t have to be off,â€�
you said. And you tried â€” I know you did. Donâ€™t think I didnâ€™t see you trying.
I donâ€™t ever want you to think I didnâ€™t notice. You moved it. But you moved
it too far in the other direction. And at first, it was wrong in a new way.
And the novelty felt different. And we thought we were going to be okay
for a while. But it didnâ€™t last, did it? Novelty never does. You and I needed
to always be changing in a stable sort of way. Different sameness. Serious
humor. Revised uniformity. Earnest frivolity. And so it goes, going, gone.
It went. And I donâ€™t know what to do anymore. I guess I never did. But the
uncertainty is hitting harder this time. My soul is leaking. And I canâ€™t make
it stop. Like a captain going down with the ship, I accept my fate while I
panic. A brave coward. A sad stoic. An uninspired muse. I am overloaded
with emotion even though I canâ€™t feel anything anymore. I want to be
everywhere and nowhere at all. See me, but please stop looking at me.
Iâ€™m looking at the frame again. I told myself not to, but I did anyway. You
always have to look. You canâ€™t help it. Sometimes you can tilt your head,
and that frame looks fine. But you canâ€™t walk around with your head tilted
like that. It skews the rest of the world. Someone will notice and tell you
about it. And when enough people tell you, your neck will straighten. And
youâ€™ll realize how much better it feels to see the world with a straight
neck. Other times, I look at the frame and just pretend itâ€™s okay that
itâ€™s off. Perfect imperfection. A genius mistake. Wonderous wrongness.
But you canâ€™t stop noticing that itâ€™s not right. You have to notice. And
eventually, you have to admit it: itâ€™s off. Itâ€™s wrong. Itâ€™s all wrong and canâ€™t
ever be right â€” even though you wish it could be different. And there I go
wishing again. I wish it never happened. I wish I could do it all again. I wish
it werenâ€™t over. I wish it ended years ago â€” maybe then Iâ€™d be over it. But
maybe â€” and probably â€” Iâ€™ll never be over it. Itâ€™ll become a part of me. So
many parts of me. So much of me hurts. This painful life, body, mind. My
mind always hurts. When your eyes have third degree burns, all you can
see is pain. Maybe in the distance thereâ€™s a faint tinge of love. Maybe. So
many maybes. Too many. Maybe one day there wonâ€™t be so many. Iâ€™m not
sure if thatâ€™s better. Iâ€™m not sure it will ever be better. All these things
are happening all the time â€” they were always happening. I encompass
all of it and nothing at all. Iâ€™m composed of stardust on a lonely planet
in an impossibly vast universe. Yet I only exist in my mind and in the
minds of a small handful of people that happened to be around me at the
same time I was here. But theyâ€™ve always been here. And so have I. It all
means nothing and everything. And Iâ€™m both lucky and unfortunate to
have experienced any of it. I donâ€™t want it to ever end, but it has to stop
somewhere, doesnâ€™t it? Start, stop, begin, end â€¦
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ƒMICHAEL DAVID KING - BEST OF BIRDY 003
HITLER BIGFOOT
Trek deep into the Austrian wilderness for clues and unravel
the mystery of this legendary creature.
MAN VS. SELF (TV-PG)
Host Ronk Kupperman must survive 96 hours in the harshest natural environments
armed only with his incompetence and poor decision-making skills.
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE YOUR OLD MAN?!
Adult children are forced to confront their drunken father in a bare-knuckle brawl.
SHITHEAD DYNASTY
The McAllister clan is three generations of Kentucky fartknocker: Stern and moronic father
Zeke, corpseminded twins Darla and Charlisse, and the fuckwit they only call â€œDooby.â€�
ANTIQUES ROAD WARRIOR
Historians and antiquarians bludgeon each other in the sunbleached
desert with rare and priceless artifacts.
JAY LENOâ€™S GARAGE OF DENIM CARS
Heâ€™s back! Join Jay as he whines and wheezes at length about
his love of cars made entirely out of dungaree.
THE XXX FILES
You always wanted Mulder and Scully to â€œget it on,â€� but did you know that
Skinner and that musclefaced alien bounty hunter would get in on the orgy?
This show takes that premise and just fucking goes. (ANIMATED)
FRASIER 2
Frasier Craneâ€™s lost son Starr returns to Seattle to sell heroin
and work as a machinist. Starring David Faustino.
LAW & ORDER: ICE-T RAPPING INCOHERENTLY FOR 28 MINUTES
Detective Tutuola is on the streets and heâ€™s saying ... something?
GLEE: CHINA BEACH (TV-MA)
In between the mines and tiger traps these Vietnam-era Marines
would die for each other, or for their love of music!
ALTON BROWN ISN'T MOVING
The beloved celebrety chef hasnâ€™t so much as twitched in over two days. Guest starring
a lamp that looks like Mario Bataliâ€™s foot, and a visibly mummified Anthony Bourdain.
HAROLD Nâ€™ MAUDE
The star-crossed lovers open a hip, jamming record store in
1990s Chic â€” you know I canâ€™t even type this shit.
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
Spoiler alert: rest stop glory hole.
IRON SHEMP
The nationâ€™s best sad-sack Shemp impersonators battle it out in Stooge Stadium.
SUPERNATURALIST
Hunky twins Dutch and Connor fight spirits, ghouls and sometimes each other
at South Carolinaâ€™s finest nude beaches. Starring Peter Scolari.
GROWING UP SEAGAL
Steven Seagalâ€™s kids wish for death as a camera crew follows them
around and makes light of their existential damnation.
BORBâ€™S BARGERS
Harried restaurateur Borb Blempert and his wife Blemba try to keep their family hamblubber joint
afloat, while dealing with their crazy kids Tima, Geam and Blueesh. (IN ESTONIAN, SUBTITLED)
LENA DUNHAM: COLONOSCOPY
This 8-part series follows the Girls star as the deepest recesses of
her bowels are plumbed via videoscope for no real.
No. 133
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31
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No. 133
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