Babylon Falling-Blog-

Shaun (do yourself a favor and add his photo blog, here, to your daily routine) took these beautiful shots last night while we were all sitting around watching David get everything in place for the opening reception for his artwork which takes place tomorrow night from 6pm-9pm.

Click the picture above to watch an audio slideshow of our studio visit with David Ball. Shaun took some beautiful photos of David’s space and David talked with us about recently emerging from a self-imposed hiatus from his artwork, his explorations with new techniques, how he keeps his process fresh, and the new directions he finds his work heading.

If you can make it out definitely stop by for the opening reception this Thursday night, 6-9pm. David does so much with texture that the work is definitely best appreciated in person and up close.

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Kensey is reading this. I haven’t picked up any of his books in a long time but this is supposed to be really good.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - Always somewhere within easy reach. Kensey’s favorite book of all time. The annotated version is a must.

Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson by William McKeen - Just started this the other day. Dope so far. The thing I’m liking so far about it is that he doesn’t front like him and Hunter were homies, but instead is writing from the point of view of an outsider with access. Refreshing especially with so many people racing to press with bullshit, rushing to associate themselves with HST since his death. Anyway, good reading so far.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Kensey is about to start this Pulitzer Prize winning debut novel from Junot Diaz. From what I’ve heard from other people it really does live up to the hype.

The Spanish Civil War by Antony Beevor - My obsession is slowly shifting away from Cuban history to the history of the Spanish Civil War. The HST bio put this book on the back burner for now.

Conduit - Dope little journal I picked up at City Lights right before we went to Jamaica. This issue is dedicated to black humor (as opposed to dark humor). A nice interview in there with Andre Breton’s biographer. I’ll definitely be checking for this regularly.

Life Amongst the Modocs: Unwritten History by Jaoquin Miller - Another one that I picked up at City Lights (my favorite stop when dropping flyers around town). I’ve heard the story of the Modocs and their heroic battles from a few different people so it will be good to fill in the gaps, but I need to be seriously caffeinated to catch a good stride with this one…not likely to happen while it’s beside the bed.

Glimpses of World History by Jawaharlal Nehru - Clocking in at over 1000 pages this was loaned to me by a friend in an act that could only be considered a practical joke. The book is essentially a collection of 196 letters written by Nehru to his then 13 year old daughter Indira while he was locked up and without access to any reference material. An incredible feat and evidence of Nehru’s immense breadth of knowledge to be sure, there is absolutely no way that I can delude myself into believing that I have even a small chance of finishing this book. So, despite having the advantage of being written with a 13 year old girl as the intended audience I have to abandon this one.

Slowly making our way out of Kingston and towards Montego Bay to fly back to the states, we spent our last weekend in Jamaica in Port Antonio. Our first order of business was to track down Allan Swymmer of the legendary Mento band The Jolly Boys. There were a few stories that we pursued on this trip that deepened my appreciation of Jamaica and Jamaican history in a completely unexpected way, and furnished experiences that I have never had in all my years living in Jamaica and probably would never have had if not for this trip. This was one of them.

After being told “Straight ’round the corner” a half dozen times we finally roll up on Mr. Swymmer’s house literally at the end of the road.

A man of many talents, Mr. Swymmer built the entire house by hand on this plot of land beside a river.

The cinder block mold that he used to make each block used in the construction of the house.

Mr. Swymmer talked with us about what daily life was like in pre-independence Jamaica, about Mento music and its role in Jamaican culture, The Jolly Boys, Errol Flynn & his wife Pat (who incidentally still lives in Jamaica on a vast tract of land outside Port Antonio), and the prevailing culture for musicians first in the ‘bakra’ house and later in the hotels in Port Antonio and along the north coast. A beautiful conversation punctuated by the occasional outbreak of singing. These are just a few pictures taken by Shaun that capture the spirit of the day.

We are meeting tomorrow to go over all the footage and stills to start the process of editing so material should start coming out in the next couple months.

You can read more about Mento music and the Jolly Boys here

Store will re-open on Wednesday. Sorry for the inconvenience.

On a positive note I just got an email telling me that in addition to receiving the editor’s pick for ‘best bookstore for aspiring activists’ Babylon Falling is also listed as a close runner up in the SFBG Best Of The Bay 2008 reader’s poll for BEST SPECIALTY BOOKSELLER

Big up to Borderlands who won the vote.

See the listing here.

http://www.sfbg.com/bob/2008/shopping.php

Love to everyone that voted and see you soon.