BLANKA street level Arts and Culture Digest

November 2009

w w w . b l a n k z i n e . c o m

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BLANKA street level Arts and Culture Digest

Novemeber 2009

4. A Coffin filled with copper hair

6. Billy Ray/ Comic

13. Catch of the month/ Graff

22. BRAEN/ Comic

24. Calender

29. Submissions Guidelines

Letter from the Editor

Letter From the EditorI know that this is where WE, the staff here at BLANK, usually tell you what’s going on with the publication or with our lives… That is not what we are doing this month, In the September issue we asked you to write and tell us “What’s changed in your life lately” We all looked at the best response we received, and decided that it perfectly explained why we put out this little publication of ours. So, rather than writing our own letter, we are publishing the letter from Robert Harmon because it expresses, in ways we as the editors could not so eloquently explain, exactly why we do what we do. what i have to say is unsaid, what i have to do is undone fter a life of writing poems, stories, letters, postcards, i enrolled in a creative writing class. i have always appreciated good writing, especially short stories. short stories are what i wanted to write. until i did it. my story was pretty awful, although my professer and classmates were kind in their killing.In wichita, over the last several years many independent publications have come and some gone-f5, wichita city paper, naked city. they were started i believe because of the need of a place for the expression of ideas and the lack at the time of an open format in which to do so. enter blank. artists, poets, and writers have the inherent need to create and express themselves; here we have the way and place to do it. yet it is deadline time again and i delay. The challenge this month was to write a story about something that’s altered your life. writing has altered my life. i need now to keep the passion that started this whole work, which can be said for all things of worth-our marriages, equality, sobriety, universal health care, this digest. will we fight for and save the things we care about against the apathy of the indifferent? is apathy an excuse for frustration or failure? the excuse? the only excuse? probably not. at times numbness can take me over; the self serving and deadness of my conscience that refuses to cry out, fight, participate. having a reason to write, here we now have a place to put it. if this publication asks for content in order to exist and wichita doesn’t provide it, there will be one less reason to write and one less place for it to be displayed. there is no content without effort. robert harmon

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Too entranced in painting Ophelia he did not notice the day the lamps went out and the water became icy. Elizabeth contracted pneumonia, and while Mallais was persuaded to pay her doctor bills her health was poor until she past away not ten years later. This didn’t stop her inspiring some of the most well known paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites and joining the ranks of the worlds most famous muses. Discovered in 1849 at Mrs. Tozer’s Millinery, Elizabeth was soon modeling for many of the Pre-Raphaelite painters. However, it was Dante Gabriel Rossetti to whom she was truly a muse. Obsessed with her, Dante painted and sketched her constantly, to the exclusion of almost all other modelsUnlike most models of the era Elizabeth was an artist and poet in her own right. After they became engaged Elizabeth began to study painting with Dante

A Coffin Filled With Copper Hair

By Pamela Clarkson Her sketches and paintings show none of the glowing idealism of the Pre-Raphaelites; in an 1854 self portrait she looks angular and disproportionate, almost grotesque, a striking comparison to Dante’s angelic images of her. Though Dante was clearly consumed by his infatuation with Elizabeth it was nearly a decade before they finally married. By this point Elizabeth had been so worn down by illness and depression she had to be carried to the church.Not two years after her wedding Elizabeth had given birth to a still born daughter and conceived again. She overdosed on laudanum shortly after discovering that she was with child. Though her death was ruled as accidental rumors tell of a suicide note which Dante burned to ensure her a Christian burial, and to prevent the scandal that would have surely followed. Consumed by his grief as her passing, Dante slid a small notebook of poetry into Elizabeth’s hair before she was interned. A year later he painted her a memorial portrait, Beata Beatrix, his most famous work, a fitting end to the tragic tail, but there is more. Years later, drug addicted and delusional Dante was convinced that he was blind and could no longer paint. He began to write poetry again, but was unable to forget the works he had buried with Elizabeth. He would publish nothing until he could retrieve the journal. Dante had his agent Charles Howell exhume her coffin in the dead of night. Afterwards Howell told Dante that, not only was Elizabeth’s famous beauty intact after years underground, but her rich copper hair had contin-ued to grow and now filled the coffin entirely. Dante published his poems for Elizabeth, but was forever haunted by the guilt of disturbing her eternal rest, and by the image of her changeless beauty and long copper hair.

You have seen her dead, drowned and floating among the rushes, not Oph-elia, but Elizabeth. Day after day Sir John Everett Mallais had her lie in bathtub full of water in the dead of winter.

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Catch of the month

paser / laws to be continued

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“Shower Pearls of Wizdumb”

I’m writing this down while I still care about such things... 150 years ago, I’d be an “old man- I have allowed myself to become complacent and comort-able. I’m too old to die young and too young to die now- I’m not wise, but I am “experienced” and still possess fairly good judgement(good judgement comes from experience, experi-ence comes rom bad judgement)I have many friendsand aquain-tances who are much younger than myself- I see them rushing as fast as possible to jump head first into the shallow end of the pool of life. This saddens me.So, I’ll take this opportunity to encourage them to expand their conciousness, turn their backs on pop culture, consumerism, and go out into the world and have real experiences. read books about philosphies and religions that you don’t practice, listen to music you’ve never heard of(preferably in a language you don’t speak)- get outside of your comort zone or a little while and have a cup of coffee with someone who looks

different than your friends...Find out what you really think about something- not what the tv, your parents, or the consumer culture tells you to think! Be your own shaman/super hero/teacher. You are not garrunteed to be a better person by doing this, but, you will have gained experiences and learned something in the process(had you paid attention, of course) Your job does not define you as a person- but you are a product of how you’ve chosen to deal with you enviornment and the experi-ences you’ve had in it.

I’ve had many different jobs over the years. Here’s a list of them as best I can remember: Bicycle mechanic,Gas sta-tion attendant,construction laborer,lawn service, pawn shop clerk,processing clerk,shipping/recieving clerk,handyman,farm laborer, lab assistant,surveyor’s aide,Karate instructor

None of those jobs can tell you who I am, but the experiences I had while doing those jobs af-fected the way I saw things. One cannot control their enviorn-ment, but they can control how they react to it...Tim Leary said it best: “The goal is to think for yourself and question authourity” this is a very dangerous thing to say out loud- fortuneately for the arbitrary powers that be, very few have the courage to actually do it. The reason it’s dangerous is that if the majority of people actually did think for themselves and questioned authority, do you think there would be carreer criminals running the govern-ment? Would people mindlessly follow the “reality”television shows? No they wouldn’t- they would be out having their own reality and leading meaningul lives, the corporations that are running the show don’t want that- they want us to be goodsheep, watching their commer-cials and buying what ever crap they choose to put on the store shelf...So, here’s my advice for young people:

Take a walk down a different path if for no other reason than to see where it leadsChallenge yourself to learn new things and don’t stop doing soBe a legend/hero of free thinkingGet off the couchDon’t fear the unknownWrite your own songs, tell your own storiesGive yourself permission to be out of control once in a while(“control” is just an illu-sion, anyway)Swim against the mainstreamBe your own shaman/priest/rabbiDon’t use drugs to excess- ex-cessive drug use makes people weak and boring

And always remember to share your experiences with the next generation- they’ll need the guidance...

Then again, I’m just a grouchy old man who doesn’t “get it

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I was told once by a local Dj in Jacksonville Florida,”Your ALWAYS worth more where you’re not from”. In the last 7 years, 5 in Wichita, 2 in Jack-sonville, FL I’ve found this to be true or the deal there; still I’ve noticed a major difference in how the talent is cherished or should I say treated. I got my start here in a house basement where we threw parties on a weekly bases. You could say that partially due to it I developed a following early on in my career, though I did fall outta the scene for a while due to a lot of things that call for another article another day. I’ve noticed that there is some serious talent in this city, the thing is that the people here don’t support the local scene, the way I’ve seen in other placesWhat they need to do to bring them back down to earth is to get out of this city and see how things run in a place that actually knows they have some serious talent and see how it‘s

really done. My reality check was just that, REAL! Even the people who know my history and have seen my skills will not pay what I’m worth cause I’m considered “local”. There use to be a very good scene here but even then it was tough to get promoters to pay you at all! It seems that now, since I’ve been back, that some people’s (promoters especially) egos are still too large for this city. In a big city like Jacksonville real recognizes real and that’s why I was accepted, even welcomed into one of the best Dj crews in the city without even producing a demo. My demo was me headlining at their weekly show. I know I’m not the best but not the worst to come outta here, but I know what it takes to be successful in this industry. I can’t tell you how to go about it, it’s just an experience that you have to go through to figure out how it is.543 -BIG $PAID-

Judith Said“ You know,I noticed that of allthe eyes in the room,you had the shiniest.”

“Must be from the fast I’ve been doing.” “ No I don’t think it’s that.I don’t think it’s that at all.”

We stood in the middleof the sidewalk.

“ You’re really incredible,”she said.“ Don’t forget that. Don’t ever doubt yourself again.”

Then she kissed me on the cheek

and happily stumbledback towards the party.

~Edward Austin Robertson~

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That the divers communions of the earth, and the manifold systems of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the feelings of animosity amongst men is, in this Day, of the essence of the Faith of God and His Religion. Baha’u’llah

www.us.bahai.org316-838-8788

…Sometimes Damaged is BetterbyJack O. Hart

I’ve spent a rather nauseating amount of time trying to figure out how I wanted to begin explaining who I am and why I’m here. That didn’t work out so well. So, instead, I opted for the route of why you should be reading this and I came up with absolutely nothing. I considered the old-tricks-made-new tactic and I couldn’t bring myself to vomit up a bitter pill from 5 years past. So what did that leave me with? In the end, I found I could best approach this introduction to the afore mentioned clichés with this: What I am…and so I proceed with that.

In a word: Damaged. So many of us are and I’m not the exception. I am, on so many levels, a complete wreck and I’ve lost too many pieces to the puzzle for the picture to remain the same. Good for me. Sometimes, damaged is better. Being the wrench thrown in the gears is good for you sometimes. Being forced to live through the worst that life is going to hurl at you can be a blessing. Don’t curse your ill luck. Scratch the itch that begs for relief. You know you want to. In the short-term, pleasure-seeking activity isn’t a bad thing. Just remember that when the moment ends, Hell comes to collect. The phrase, “give the devil his due” exist for a reason. A moment is simply that: A moment. When it’s gone, move on. I believe in free-flowing chaos with a pinch of nihilism to keep things interesting. Yet I hate a dirty house…wont tolerate it for a second. Sometimes chaos needs to stop invading my personal space and take a backseat to some semblance of order. Like I said: Damaged…good for me. My life is something akin to the phrase “calculated risk-taker”. Anyone with a general knowledge of the English language can tell you the flaw of the statement. If you calculate the pros and cons, you’re not really risking as much as you could. Flawed, but beautifully diluted nonetheless. If you wanted to live in a place where everything made sense and ran according to the rules…I don’t know what to tell you. Sometimes it’s the imperfections that save the beauty from becoming the beast. To quote a friend, “…it’s like carpe diem in a stolen car”, seizing the moment from fate and not looking back. Do I think this is the path for everyone? Not a chance, but damn, the punch line would be great.

What I’m trying to say in all of this is simple: Don’t blame the world for f**king you up just run with it. Don’t reject the negative; just give it its due course. Don’t think that there’s anything wrong with being damaged…cling to the beauty inside the cracks. Most of all, treasure it all. The good, the ill, the intentional, the shameful, the pessimistic, the chaos, the system, and everything in between.

Love,-Jack-

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“The Place To Be”

In Wichita, if you aren’t paying attention, you can miss any signs of Hip Hop. You aren’t likely to see anyb-boys gettin’ down on a street corner or park, let alone in a club. There are no more than a handful oflegal walls in the 316. The grand total of local “rap/hiphop” artists with cov-erwork by a graff artist is zero.And if you’re a brave soul or just a glutton for punishment, who dares to turn on the radio, well, turn off your phonebecause ring-tone rap is in full-effect. However, if you were at the Blank Page, last Thursday, (Sept. 17th, for more information check out the article WSU’s Sunflower wrote up on it) for Hip Hop Night,you would have gone home with a smile on your face. The week prior, five local graff artists battled on 4x8s for the right to rock a wall piece the following week. Slawtrtook home first prize, in a good competition. DVST8 the Productioneer and Mix-a-Myte 1, collectively known as WreckCenter, held court at 7:30. Professor DVST8 explained everything from “baby skratches” to “chirp-flares”, whileMix-a-Myte demonstrated blends and juggling. Once the uninitiated were put up on the Clock Theory, Wreck CenterD.J.s showed everybody what time it really was. After the Wreck Center’s impromptu, it was Rewind who broke the ice, by coming up for some impromptu cuts ofhis own. The biggest surprise of the night belonged to J-Skratch. When asked if he wanted to skratch, he thoughtfor half a second, and then humbly replied “Yeah, sure”. What followed was this man straight up shredding. I was

blown away. By this time, everybody was feeling pretty good. B-boy Paturn got loose and treated everyone to some nastyup-rockin’. Cutter J. blessed all in attendance wtih his unique, spoon-play-ing skills. Finally, DVST8 and Cutter J.did a Q & A session with the turntables and spoons!! If you are a Hip Hop purest, or can’t even name the Four Elements, Hip Hop Night at the Blank Page is a good timefor all. One love to Richard Ozaetas who organizes this event!

Jason Gilmore MISSINGIF SEEN PLEASE CALL 316-267-7741

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Wanda’s Tunnel

by Corey Smith

Matt leaned against the side of the tunnel. He spoke soft like. “It looks lonely down here.”I added, “Yeah, and where’s all the chairs and comic books every-body talks about.” I peeled some dried mud off Wanda’s name. Matt stood still and I circled him splashing the cold water that soaked through my shoes. “This isn’t what I imagined.”“Hey,” said Matt. “A doll.” An old worn out doll hung from a ce-ment tab on the side of the tunnel. “It’s hers,” said Matt.I picked it up. It was old and dirty. It smelled rotten. “She must have got scared and left it. I bet she misses it.” “Wanda wouldn’t get scared. It’s not tough to play with dolls,” Matt said and crossed his arm.“I don’t know,” I said and straightened the doll’s dress. I placed the doll back on the tunnel’s wall, placing it as if she were waiting for Wanda. Matt pointed at the doll. “Aren’t you going to take it.” “It’s not mine.”Then Matt looked back at the tunnel’s entrance and said, “Wanda came so far.” I wished he would’ve stopped talking about how far we were. I couldn’t breathe. “Just stop talking about it,” I yelled and it echoed. All of a sud-den, with all the tunnel wind and knowing that Wanda had stood exactly in this spot, my skin started to crawl. I really couldn’t breathe. I grabbed my slingshot and a rock from my pocket. I plain needed out of there! I said, “I hear the water! Pray to God! I hear it! The water is coming!” We started running as fast as we

could which was hard with the curve of the tunnel. But we man-aged. The water underneath our feet grew deeper. I could hear a roar behind us. My lie was the truth! Or I was losing my mind with fear. Matt’s flashlight danced wildly. So in all the stir-up we started crying and screaming. The roar got closer. Friday’s stroller turned on its side, so I dragged it behind me. Surprisingly, Friday was quiet in all this craziness. Then, Matt dropped the flashlight, and we didn’t stop for it. We were blind as hell. I dropped my slingshot too but I just ran faster. I let fly and screamed, “Run faster!” I didn’t have any pee, or I would have pee’d my pants. Matt ran ahead. With all the roaring, honestly, I don’t know if he did hear me. He may have answered me. We got out of the tunnel and hurried up the hill. It was hard to hurry for the big patches of grass and dirt clods, and dragging Friday’s stroller. Then it happened. Bam! The water came! It was powerful and white, spraying out of the tunnel. The creek filled. We didn’t talk. My heart stopped. Matt screamed, and I backhand-ed Friday to stop his barking. “I lost the money!” Mat ran his hand through his hair. I slumped to the ground.My heart stopped. Then, a few yards away in the water, I spotted it. I half ran and half slid down the hill to the water. I screamed, “The money!” The bills were floating every which way. We jumped in the water and managed to grab every bill. The money was drenched, so I undid the front of my overalls to dry it. Matt kneeled down next to me to help. We didn’t talk for a long while. I said, “We were lucky we saved the money. No one would have believed that we did something so important.” We gazed at the water in the creek. Clutching the wet bills I said, “Our mammas were right about the tunnel.” I shivered.

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Across

2. Mythical big bird

3. Halloweeny director

5. Indian greating

6. Rectangular Rhombus

7. Swedish conspiracy (joke)

10. Year of our Lord

Down

1. Underground Cartoonist

4. Nunnery

6. Celtic name for halloween

8,Bear like

9. Krono’s wife

11.Catalonian surrealist

PatronsCentral Plains & NoveltyTwistHarry and Ollie’sGoddess of Art and Public Education, Ms.Yvonne EthingtonPatron Saint of ....... Kelly M. BerubePatron Saint of Coffee and Goodness Sasha Diener

SponsorsKimmy’s CafeEl PaisaRiverside Hair StationElizabeth OwensEndless Ride Pro ShopHatman JackJ&T’s Niffty Kitchen

Independent Digital Printing

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by DC Warrenby DC warren

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Saturday October 31stHalloween Cult classics @ Mur-dock Theatre 7pThe Shining (film) @ The Or-pheum 7pStrange Inventions @ The Garage 10pChime Owls, Lollipop Factory @ Kirby’s 10pDonut Whole 1st Annual Spooky Moovy @ Donut Whole 9pSaturday Morning Cartoons @ Blank Page 12pGraffiti Class @ Blank Page 3:30p

Sunday November 1stLife Drawing @ Blank Page 12pPhenomena (film) @ Blank Page 7:30p

Monday November 2ndBodo Ensemble @ Blank Page 8p

Tuesday November 3rdWSU Jazz Combos @ Blank Page 8p

Wednesday November 4thOpen Verse (open mic) @ Blank Page 7:30pTrivia Night @ Kirby’s 7pFriends Vocal Jazz and Combos @ Sebits Auditorium 7:30p

Thursday November 5thBlack Book/Sticker Drawing Ses-sion @ Blank Page 7p

Friday November 6th ROKICT 1st Anniversary Party @ Rock Island Studios 7pStoney LaRue @ The Cotillion 7pThe Dallas Brass @ SE High School 7pDead Skeptic, Friday Night Arson, Behind the Solution @ Lizard Lounge 9p

Saturday November 7thDr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School (Cabaret & Life-Drawing) @ Blank Page 4:30p

CalenderKansas Orchid Society @ Botanica 10aWichita Strong Ale Fest @ The Anchor 12pHot Jogger, The Great Planes, The Famous Times @ Blank Page 8pGiggle Party @ Kirby’s 10p

Sunday November 8thLife Drawing @ Blank Page 12pKansas Orchid Society @ Botanica 10aDeli Day @ Congregation Emanuel 11aKit Craig @ Kirby’s 6pBreaking Away (film) @ Blank Page 7:30pChevelle @ The Cotillion 8p

Monday November 9thProspero Trio @ Blank Page 8pHank III & Assjack @ The Cotil-lion 8p

Tuesday November 10thCeltic Woman: Isle of Hope @ Century II 7:30p

Get Laid, Surviving Tetanus @ Kirby’s 10p

Wednesday November 11th

Open Verse (open mic) @ Blank Page 7:30pTrivia Night @ Kirby’s 7p

Thursday November 12th

DJ Spinning Session @ Blank Page 7p

Friday November 13th

Bobby Mickey @ Blank Page 8pBob & Tom @ The Cotillion 7:30p

Saturday November 14th

Saturday Morning Cartoons @ Blank Page 12pGraffiti Class @ Blank Page 3:30pHorizonz Feat. DJ Craveone & DJ Gaia @ Lizard’s Lounge 9pTruckstop Honeymoon @ The

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Anchor 9pHeavy Metal Karaoke @ Kirby’s 10p

Sunday November 15thLife Drawing @ Blank Page 12pParis Je t’aime (film) @ Blank Page 7:30p Noah Engh @ Kirby’s 10p

Monday November 16thBen Jervis Trio @ Blank Page 8pWisebird @ Kirby’s 10p

Tuesday November 17thWSU Jazz Ensemble @ Miller Concert Hall 7:30pGo Kart Mozart @ Kirby’s 10p

Wednesday November 18thOpen Verse (open mic) @ Blank Page 7:30pTrivia Night @ Kirby’s 7p

Thursday November 19thDJ Qbert’s Animated Movie”2” @

Blank Page 7pCletus Got Shot @ Kirby’s 10p

Friday November 20thSaturday November 21stSaturday Morning Cartoons @ Blank Page 12pGraffiti Class @ Blank Page 3:30The Vertical Violet’s Vibrant Va-riety Event @ The Vertical Violet 10aNikki Moddelmog CD Release show @ Abode 8pGothic Masqua-rade Ball @ Old Town Ballroom 9pIn The Wake @ Kirby’s 10p

Sunday November 22ndLife Drawing @ Blank Page 12pKit Craig @ Kirby’s 6pMaroon 5 @ Koch Arena 7:30pHold Fast (film) @ Blank Page 7:30p

Monday November 23rd Immanuel Schott Jazz Group @ Blank Page 8pLord Crane @ Kirby’s 10p

Calender

Tuesday November 24thMy Why @ Kirby’s 10p

Wednesday November 25thTrivia Night @ Kirby’s 7pOpen Verse (open mic) @ Blank Page 7:30p

Thursday November 26thKrush Groove (Film) @ Blank Page 7p

Friday November 27thFinal Friday @ Various Galleries 7pFract/ons Release Party @ WSU Shiftspace 7pSeason’s After @ Lizard’s Lounge 9p

Saturday November 28thSaturday Morning Cartoons @ Blank Page 12pGraffiti Class @ Blank Page 3:30pRagman’s Wagon @ Kirby’s 10p

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