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M.T. Karthik

~ works, thoughts, events of 1977 – 2017

M.T. Karthik

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Book Review – Lincoln in the Bardo

16 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by mtk in Book Review, reviews

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Bardo, book, form, George, Karthik, Lincoln, Lincoln in the Bardo, m.t., m.t. karthik, mtk, novel, review, Saunders, structure, the, writing

The originality of the structure of Lincoln in the Bardo immediately sets George Saunders’ debut novel apart. It’s composed of stacked lists of quotations attributed to the souls occupying Oak Hills cemetery in the Georgetown section of our nation’s capitol in 1862; to the President at the time, Abraham Lincoln, and to his son, Willie, recently deceased; and to the night watchman and manager of the cemetery, neighbors, historical figures and eyewitnesses to the events of the time.

I plunged into this work thinking these crazy quotes would continue for a few pages and then return to a normal third or first person narrative. Not only did they not, the form became its own sort of thing with hilarity and piety. The quotations interact, finish one another’s sentiments.

Saunders’ approach from his short stories in Pastoralia, where letters and notes and faxes between characters move plot and create conflicts, is here in fuller effect. This “debut novel” thus actually resides somewhere between the novella and the norm of long-form fiction. Almost as if Saunders still isn’t ready to write one of those “novel” things.

It was initially off-putting because pretty quickly quotes from real historical sources reside in equanimity with a tumbling invention of the thoughts of the dead.

The first time several quotations are used to describe the same person and there are wide disparities implying unreliable reportage, forcing the reader to flip back-and-forth to separate quotes from actual historical texts from made-up ones, it’s a hilarious reminder that we’re in a novel, and it doesn’t matter.

Fiction and Non-fiction swim together.

In the mid-90’s, in San Francisco, it was the fashion among serious young (read: unpublished) writers like me to read the postmodern fiction of structuralists like Harry Matthews, the only American member of the Oulipo, with great love. The Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle bears consideration in advance of talking about Saunders as constructionist.

There is a confidence and ease I love about George Saunders. He really is in command of his craft. With this form, within a matter of a few chapters, you are in his world. If a person were to come over to you and look over your shoulder while you’re reading this novel, it would look to them like insane gibberish.

Saunders’ effort is totally original but like Matthews and the Oulipo before him, uses structure to train you into his narrative – isolating you from being able to “tell” this book.

It was immediately apparent an audio book of this work is basically impossible without dozens of actors and a unique method for attribution, audibly. It’s another thing, a book.

I wonder how the e-versions look/read?

Once aboard, the form establishes a rhythm and momentum that sends this richly imagined exploration of death, life and loss, forward with vigor.

The historical facts surrounding the 16th President and the death of his son at the White House and the Civil War that raged with the nation’s history in the balance are the nest in which Saunders crafts a re-imagining of purgatory. He does so to examine our sense of purpose and meaning – in life and after death.

But rather than a staid, dusty exploration of our historical understanding of the deaths of the time, Saunders populates his work with real people – everyday people who lived and died normal and un-extraordinary lives, filled with sins and loves and hates and pettiness. It is part of his charm in the short form that his characters are easily believable and admirable for their flawed, utterly human qualities. They are our guides to the mind of our beloved Lincoln, and nation.

Saunders’ exceptional understanding of people and compassion for their desires, dreams and regrets is again on display as this diverse collection of souls from many walks of life reveal themselves and the stories of their lives.

The population of the cemetery includes slaves but the book fails to really plunge into the national sin. I read a review that felt the opposite, that the recrimination and oppression of the slaves in the cemetery by the whites was clearcut and evocative, giving voice to the horror, but it was disappointing to me.

As I reflect on the role the slaves do play, it is once again as from a position of rectitude, to be able to look back at slavery and racism to contain it in the national narrative.

There are some serious and violent points of intersection between the black and white population of the cemetery and one particularly poignant one never ends, an eternal struggle. But I can’t help but feel this could have been developed. Slaves and masters in the same cemetery, with only the masters in marked graves, seems a rare territory and an opportunity to explore racism more deeply.

The conceit does fruit into a tangential reference into Lincoln’s conclusions on the matter, conclusions that led to years of bloody war over ending slavery. This book isn’t about that though, nor about the civil war.

It seems to be about how we, all of us, think of ourselves and our lives more than Lincoln or anyone else in 1862 does. It seems to be about how we think of our lives in advance of, and even after, death – whether it’s the death of someone we know or ourselves. In that, Lincoln in the Bardo succeeds with sensitivity and compassion.

Saunders understands un-requite, failure, desperation and the longing we all feel. He also knows how to craft this understanding into an incredibly direct narrative. It’s amazing.

Apparently he has said about his process that the narrative tells him how long it is to be, what it is to be. In this case it became something wondrous.

I am left with so much after this novel. I find I cannot describe it very well. It’s like a magician’s deception. What you find within is worth much more than the conceit.

It is clear though, the magician knows his audience inside and out.

Impressive.

mtk

Sympathy With The Machine

03 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by mtk in beliefs, radio, SympathyWithMachine, thoughts

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audio, broadcast, connectivity, fm, machine, machines, media, medium, rumination, streaming, sympathy, the, tribal, video, with

The thesis of this thread of writing and vlog entries is that there are things happening all the time when we are working in concert with machines that we cannot or have not yet accurately described.

I am using radio – a field in which I have worked off and on for more than 30 years – as an example to discuss the same effects in any live broadcast medium or other “real-time” circumstances.

This thesis, titled, “Sympathy With The Machine,” and anything found under the rubric is copyright M.T. Karthik, unless cited.

We begin with two vlog entries:

INTRO

 

and Part One

 

thinking about this stuff now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mtk

 

Upon Reading The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

12 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by mtk in Book Review, reviews

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book, colson, critique, doubleday, Karthik, m.t., mtk, railroad, review, the, underground, whitehead

My thoughts on The Underground Railroad, my first introduction to Colson Whitehead.

The Underground RailroadThe Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I followed the success of this book with interest, remembering that Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man won the National Book Award for fiction in 1950 and The Color Purple by Alice Walker did in 1983, both works I respected, but that since, African-American writers have been absent as victors. It is impossible not to think of the farce of the Oscars and other cultural awards when 34 years go between the appearance of anyone black on a list such as this.

Here is a historical fiction on the implementation of pre-Civil War slavery at the peak of the slavers repression of the slaves – the era when a few men of conscience were freeing slaves and encouraging states to outlaw the practice. Running away was working.

It is thus set at the time when repression was at its most savage; when slaving whites were afraid of uprisings and cracked back with an orgy of violence to send the message of their superiority.

Whitehead has a crisp tone and a direct manner, writing in the third yet exhibiting effortless shift of vantage, moving between the runaway slaves Cora and Caesar and the tumbling, ever-pressing posse of those who would catch and sell or kill them – led by the relentless Mr. Ridgeway – as well as a cast of characters that surround and support or seek to destroy the railroad.

In Whitehead’s telling the railroad is real and mechanical and underground, belching and speeding through darkness shielded from the stars and thus to who-knows-where with intense purpose or driven by the hand of a wild-eyed refugee pumping a pushcart through the narrowing and darkening hole to the point of exhaustion to escape her pursuers.

The book is brutal because the era is brutal and the telling is matter-of-fact about events that are a stain upon our national character – eugenics experiments alongside the horrifying comfort of those who laughed and skipped and played as they lynched, raped, burnt to a crisp and whipped to death. It is all here laid bare, written without sentimentality. I understand the book took Whitehead a decade and a half to write and the work is apparent as the narrative careens forward, northward, zigs toward unknown locales, zags to known others.

In some ways Whitehead’s craft in this book reminds me of McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West. I am not sure how I mean that except to say writing on matters that are so difficult to describe for their savagery requires a deft hand, an honest heart and a razor-sharp mind.

This is fine work – a worthy National Book Award winner – and I agree with those who believe all Americans should read it.

View all my reviews

mtk

A Rare MTK on the M-I-C Radio Drop

03 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by mtk in Commentary

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adam, adam the bull, bull, cbs, cbssports, Karthik, m.t., mtk, radio, sports, talk, the

Adam the Bull hosts a great Saturday Morning show called Eye On Baseball on CBS Sports Radio and he let me drop in last week.

 

I think I will call back to represent our G-men more this summer.

Incredible Season, Relentless Team, Hall of Fame Manager

30 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by mtk in Commentary, World Series

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after, champions, champs, day, fame, Francisco, game, giants, Hall, incredible, manager, mtk, relentless, San, season, series, team, the, world

Bruce Bochy, I’d like to shake your hand.

I want to thank you, congratulate you and apologize for doubting you from time to time. What you have done with a number of different players over the last five years is testimony to your brilliance and inspiration.

You finally brought a championship to San Francisco, and not just one, now, but three – and you did it with an ever-changing array of players, overcoming injuries and incredible odds.

Your staff – Righetti, Meulens, Wotus, Kelly, Flannery and the others take their lead from you and have all been superb. Your team and staff management is a thing of greatness. In my opinion, sir, you have earned a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Yet you always give it up to the guys and wow, what a group of guys. Without Matt Cain and without Angel Pagan and without Michael Morse in the regular lineup for much of it; without Buster hitting the way he usually does – likely from sheer exhaustion – they fought and never quit.

The grittiness, stick-to-it-iveness, toughness, persistence and grind-it-out effort were a thing of beauty. The 18 inning game was one of the most impressive efforts I have ever seen made by men in Giants uniforms.

Guys, I am so very proud of you all and our team spirit. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for another world championship. I feel truly blessed.

Sincerely,

M.T. Karthik

in Giants Baseball Corner

Take the Hair and Put it on the Face

24 Saturday May 2014

Posted by mtk in Commentary

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and, bobblehead, face, Francisco, hair, it, Karthik, Lincecum, milan, mlb, mtk, ocean, omm, on, pitcher, put, San, take, the, Tim

Finally! Cain Gets Run Support, First Win; Giants Overcome Marlins

16 Friday May 2014

Posted by mtk in Post Game Blasts

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Buster, cain, Francisco, marlins, matt, miami, michael, morse, necklace, pagan, pence, Posey, San, sf, the, win

When the Miami Marlins came to town last year with Matt Cain on the mound, my son and I took his grandmother visiting from India. Here they are after the game, and you can see the Marlins crushed us 7-2:

DSCN3593

In fact, Miami historically score a lot of runs at AT&T and have forced the Giants to do the same to get their wins. So yesterday, after Matt Cain fell behind early 1-4, it looked like the same old script: Cain gets behind early, gets no run support, but settles in and quiets the opponent, scattering a few more hits, only to lose because the Giants can’t plate any runners.

BUT WAIT!

Not this time. Even with Belt out, the Giants lineup looked daunting and filled with guys who have been hitting this year: Pence, Morse, Colvin, Posey … and even Sandoval, who entered the game with a slump-breaking six game hitting streak. It looked on paper like a lineup that could, possibly, maybe, finally produce run support for Cain.

Flashback for Perspective

Five years ago, in 2009, when the Giants at (79-66) were chasing the Rockies (82-64) and a shot at the Wild Card for the playoffs, we were within a game and a half with a three game series at AT&T on tap. A sweep would put the Giants in first, my favorite Giant, Matt Cain was on the mound, and it was as close as we had been all year. So I took my son (that little cute guy in the photo there) for his first night game.

Cain followed his incredibly consistent modus operandi: scattering five hits and four runs (via two homers) across six innings. The Giants had runners in scoring position in the 9th down 4-3 and Nate Schierholtz struck out to end the game. This was close as we would get to the playoffs … until the next year when we won it all. : )

But as we all know that game was not only typical of what happened to Matt Cain all that year long, it has continued to this day. The poor guy hasn’t had a win all season because the Giants sometimes can’t score even one bloody run for him.

I want to be honest … it physically hurts when I think what we have done to Matt Cain’s win-loss record. This guy should be HoF bound and may not make it on any ballot because of that win-loss record. That is why he is my favorite Giant … because I know I’m going to be spending the rest of my days arguing for his election to Cooperstown.

But unless you’re the New York Yankees, or now, the Dodgers or Angels, help for the batting order requires an incremental build up of bats over a few off-seasons. To his great credit, Giants GM Brian Sabean has worked at it: Fontenot and Ross during the season of 2010; Melky, Pagan and Blanco in the offseason and Scutaro and Pence during the season of 2012; and now Michael Morse – the biggest bat of all – in 2014.

Cost Effective? Shoot “Mr. CE” should be Sabean’s nickname. With two rings in four years, he has out-Moneyballed Billy Beane.

So last night, when the Giants bats fought back from a 1-4 deficit to take a 6-4 lead for Matt Cain, I almost wept … years in the making.

Hunter Pence was 3 for 5 and scored three runs. Michael Morse crushed an opposite field home run to right and Buster Posey drilled the go-ahead two-run double to give the Giants the lead they would never relinquish. Way to go Gerald! The increasingly impressive ‘pen did the rest.

And though he wasn’t as much of a factor, Pablo did extend his streak with a hit that advanced Hunter Pence to third and later in the game moved Posey there on a deep sac fly. Posey would score on a Morse single.

This was a significant come from behind win for the Giants.

I really should make mention of Pagan’s at-bat that may have saved this game … but instead I will let El Lefty Malo do it.

There were some negatives: Pablo had another errant throw. We got lucky a ball that hit Pence on the foot (which would have been an automatic out) went unobserved by the refs (and that there is as yet no replay). But all those fall under Category 4: Take Advantage of Others’ Mistakes.

As you must have read by now, staff ace Tim Hudson has been scratched tonight for a minor injury that is basically a “rest scratch” for the oldest guy on staff. Yusmeirio Petit will get his second emergency start of the season. He has been up and down and we are starting to develop a really team-oriented approach to the early season, so I LOVE this: keeping Petit from getting cold and resting the old guy with potential to get injured. It’s just like spelling Pagan and letting Blanco develop in case it has to happen more often. These are all moves that create a 25-man roster that can win any game, with any lineup.

I am starting to get really good feelings about this season. Yesterday, when Cain was down 1-4, for the first time this season, I broke out:

The Necklace.

After I put it on, we swarmed back to win.

We have never lost the season or the World Series when either my son or I wear The Necklace every game day.

The Outsider Inside – a short film

16 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by mtk in fiction, Oakland, performance, S.F., short film

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a.p., airport, Balas, Brooks, consuelo, dangle, dj, earle, ferrara, fiction, film, Francisco, inside, James, jason, JFR, Karthik, Kevin, KoKo's, lloyd, Lounge, m.t., manning, mtk, narrative, OAK, oakland, outsider, Raj, Robert, rosencrantz, San, sf, short, tanner, the, Walt

“The Academy and the Government are always the last, the very last, to state the truth.”

– Dr. Robert Brooks

a narrative short fiction about two academics, one an invited guest of the other, who meet in the SF Bay and discuss aspects of the state of the world, briefly, but disagree.

produced and directed by M.T. Karthik
camera/lighting by Jason F. Rosencrantz
edited by MTK (with JFR); written by MTK (with JFR and Lloyd Dangle)
starring: James Earle as Dr. Robert Brooks, MTK as Dr. Raj Balas
and acting as “the students”: Lloyd Dangle, Walt Tanner and A.P. Ferrara

with Chris as the bartender and DJ Consuelo on decks
music: Alma de cera by Abel Duêrê, undercooled by Ryuichi Sakamoto, zigga zigga bite off 3 Feet High and Rising by de la soul, piano track by Vijay Iyer

thanks to OAK airport and KoKo’s Lounge

Are You at The Game?

09 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by mtk in etiquette

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are, at, baseball, corner, game, gbc, giants, independent, Karthik, m.t., mtk, the, you

If you are at the game, be at the game.

Here in San Francisco we’re struggling to win baseball games at home down the stretch and I’m convinced it’s because our fans, led by Comcast, are far too distracted by things that have nothing to do with the game – even while the game is being played!

We’re distracted and our team needs us to be focused.

This was never true at Candlestick, where it was cold, windy and miserable most of the time. You were there because you loved the Giants and watched every pitch.

If we want to win home games, fans have to focus on every pitch. It’s called watching the live action and all long-time fans do it. You chat between pitches, but when the pitcher sets, you do too and you turn to face the plate.

These days, because of the incredible number of distractions from the scoreboard and overtly non-baseball production of the media, I see fans bringing children under six or seven who have no interest in the game, who are there solely because a parent is making them be there.

These parents bring their kids as an entertainment for the children, which would be cool if they kept them abreast of what was happening, taught them to score the game and etc. But they don’t spend the requisite time making them watch, and indeed focus intently on, the action when it is live.

I saw two young girls facing each other in the seats in front of me talking to each other for an entire inning in the Lower Box. Their Dad was sitting beside them on his cel-phone the entire game, just chatting away and looking all around the park! They could’ve been beaned so easily by a foul ball.

I also see lots of tourists in our crowd – people here for our fabulous Indian Summer – it’s the high season after all. But these fans are hardly as loud or supportive as our own home-grown fans, which is why we have to lead them.

I watch Comcast spend more time following people goofing around or wearing funny hats or the Delorean hovercraft in McCovey Cove than the game itself; listen to Kruk and Kuip (normally solid baseball analysts) making inane social commentary about Gamer babes and Amy G pushing soccer Mom culture and I think all of this is creating social media fans not baseball fans and it’s definitely created the distracted attitude at the game.

ENOUGH. Fans have to get involved.

Two examples:

Mat Latos was on the mound for the Reds earlier this year and he was tearing us apart. It was the bottom of the third at AT&T Park, midweek, daygame. It felt like a morgue. As soon as Latos strode to the mound I yelled, loudly, “Hey Mat! Oh My God! You have a no-hitter going! … Woah! Don’t think about it man!”

It freaked out my whole section and some tittered nervously.

On the next pitch Angel Pagan singled to right.

This was calculated. Watch the action, see what would help, plan your comment, wait for a quiet moment and throw it out into the field of play.

Second example was against the Nats when Timmy faced the Phenom and Melky was suspended – crazy game. But we were within striking distance at the end when Pablo popped up to the infield and ran hard for first. The crowd above the first base line shouted and screamed and went nuts forcing the second baseman to drop the pop-up, an error that allowed Panda to get on. It was awesome. Fruitless, but awesome.

The guys need you. Get involved in every play. If you brought kids, teach them to do the same. Pay attention and root for our guys. They can hear you.

You need to pump Zeets up. You need to encourage Pence and Blanco to be more patient at the plate. You need to push the Dodgers into mistakes.

When you are at the park, BE AT THE PARK.

TOGETHER WE’RE GIANT.

Flava Flav Cold Lampin at Regency Ballroom, SF, 2011

19 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by mtk in music video, S.F.

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2011, cold, enemy, flav, flava, Karthik, lampin, m.t., mtk, public, san francisco, sf, the, warfield

Peter Gabriel and New Blood Orchestra at The Greek, Berkeley, 2011

10 Friday Jun 2011

Posted by mtk in music video

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2011, A.P. Ferrara, andersen, Berkeley, Gabriel, Greek, Greek Theater, heart, Karthik, laurie, lou, m.t., mtk, Peter, power, proposal, Reed, the, theatre, wedding

The song is the wedding proposal from Lou Reed to Laurie Andersen entitled, The Power of the Heart.

The Giants Win the Pennant 2010

23 Saturday Oct 2010

Posted by mtk in Commemorations

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2010, 6, AT&T, baseball, california, celebration, Francisco, game, giants, house, last, League, mlb, National, nlcs, park, pennant, philadelphia, phillies, pitch, public, San, six, the, win

at the Public House for the last out, celebrating our first trip to the world series in 8 years!

 

Sonny Rollins, concert review, 2008

04 Friday Apr 2008

Posted by mtk in essay, jazz, journalism, reviews

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2008, Berkeley, Cal, california, collossus, Colossus, Ishmael, m.t. karthik, mtk, Performances, Reed, review, rollins, sonny, the, The Colossus, Zellerbach

77-year old Sonny Rollins absolutely lifted 2,000 plus in a wowing two-hour set Thursday night at Zellerbach Hall on the Berkeley campus.

The gig was the first before a worldwide tour over the next two months for the tenor giant that includes Singapore, Japan, China and Rollins’ first trip to Korea. The group returns to the US briefly before moving on to Europe in the summer.

The irrepressible genius called tunes and blew glowing chord support throughout the show and was positively still energetic backstage – after two hours of uninterrupted performance. The Rollins feel remains, an unmistakably witty and stable voice in jazz and the sextet has found a dope new heartbeat in drummer Kobie Watkins who, churning the toms, created a pulsing drum-and-bass groove that Rollins, and all of us, felt. If they were strolling it would be sick.

Rollins’ broad tone blends seamlessly now with long-time collaborator, trombonist Clifton Anderson, whose fluidity is technically superior and, at moments, gorgeous. Rollins continues to experiment with African percussionist Kimati Dinizulu.

Highlight of the evening for me was witnessing novelist Ishmael Reed and Rollins share a fistpound backstage after the show, and hearing the former introduce his wife to Rollins, thus: “Meet my wife, Carol, Carol … The Colossus.”

word.

The Voting Chamber, installation, 2000

01 Wednesday Mar 2000

Posted by mtk in Austin, collage, elections, installations, journalism, MTKinstalls, protest

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1st, 2000, austin, Barnes, Bush, canvas, chamber.movements, currency, death, gallery, George, John, Karthik, killed, logo, m.t., March, McCain, mtk, No, Odell, painting, party, Penalty, primaries, Primary, real, Republican, rights, State, super, texas, the, thyagarajan, timeline, Tuesday, voter, voting, W., wrongly

The Voting Chamber was an art installation at Movements Gallery in Austin, TX, six blocks from Governor George Bush’s Mansion, and the exhibition was open during the Super Tuesday Presidential Primaries of Election 2000 and the South x Southwest (SXSW) Arts and Music Festival of that year.

COMPONENTS:
No Real Choice [2000], 5’ x 3’8”, acrylic, currency on canvas
The Voting Chamber (metal rods, fabric curtain, tabletop, audio component
Civic Dimension (acrylic on stairwell walls; chalk on pavement
Internet Component, including data from State Website and Death Penalty Opponents

I flew into Austin from Brooklyn and immediately went to a local chapter meeting of an anti-death penalty group and introduced myself publicly as an artist planning to do an installation at Movements Gallery on 6th Street:

installed for about ten days:

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OPENING RECEPTION: FEBRUARY 22, 2000
GEORGE WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY
6-8 P.M.
MOVEMENTS GALLERY
SIXTH STREET
AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA

“THE VOTING CHAMBER”

FEBRUARY 22-APRIL 22, 2000

A MULTIMEDIA INSTALLATION IN PROXIMITY TO THE TEXAS GOVERNOR’S MANSION

THE STATE OF TEXAS EXECUTES MORE PEOPLE THAN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN THE WESTERN WORLD. THE CURRENT GOVERNOR OF TEXAS (1994-2000) HAS OVERSEEN THE EXECUTION OF MORE PEOPLE THAN ALL FIVE PREVIOUS GOVERNORS TAKEN TOGETHER. HE IS CURRENTLY RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND EXECUTING AT LEAST 18 MORE PEOPLE.

ACCORDING TO A TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY STUDY, MOST TEXANS FAVOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY OR ARE UNDECIDED:

47.5%    FAVOR LIFE SENTENCE
39.5%    FAVOR EXECUTIONS
13%     ARE UNSURE

Source: http://www.lonestar.texas.net/~acohen/tcadp

“THE VOTING CHAMBER” HAS BEEN DESIGNED BY NEW YORK-BASED FORMER TEXAS RESIDENT AND UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS GRADUATE M.T. KARTHIK, TO PROVIDE A PLACE TO REHEARSE FOR THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES AND ELECTIONS.

The State posts the Execution Schedule online

Texas State Execution Schedule: 23 Feb – 27 APR 2000

23 FEB 2000 Cornelius Goss, born May 25, 1961
24 FEB 2000 Betty Beets, born March 12, 1937
01 MAR 2000 Odell Barnes,Jr., born, March 22, 1968
15 MAR 2000 Timothy Gribble born, August 27, 1963
22 MAR 2000 Dennis Bagwell born, December 27, 1963
12 APR 2000 Orien Joiner, born, October 27, 1949
18 APR 2000 Victor Saldano, born October 22, 1971
26 APR 2000 Robert Carter, born March 7, 1966
27 APR 2000 Robert Neville, born October 5, 1974
27 APR 2000 Ricky McGinn, born March 11, 1957

Source:  http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/statistics/stats-home.htm

OUTLINE FOR INSTALLATION

COMPONENTS:
“No Real Choice 2000” (5’ x 3’8”, acrylic, water, American currency on canvas)

“The Voting Chamber” (metal rods, fabric curtain, tabletop, agit-propaganda, and audio component)


“Civic Dimension” (acrylic on stairwell walls and sheetrock; chalk on pavement)
4.  “Internet Component”

THE INSTALLATION:

“No Real Choice 2000” was installed on the wall opposite top of the stairs to Gallery space. The 33’ wall was painted sympathetic to currently existing artwork in gallery while extending the theme of the canvas, including:

“The Voting Chamber,” a simulated voting booth: U-shaped curtain rod with a red curtain. This curtain is to be drawn around individual viewers to simulate a voting booth and allow a private viewing space of the canvas and of specific propaganda material. A looped, repeating audio component of the attorney of one of those on Death Row was played next to an empty chair.

The stairwell from the street to the Gallery floor and the sidewalks from the Governor’s Mansion to the gallery door (as practicable) were marked to point to the booth and to present statistics (see Statistics that follow) regarding the death penalty in Texas.

The Internet component contained elements: from http://www.georgewbush.com, the “Calendar of Events” describing the Governor’s current itinerary, and from http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us, the “Calendar of Executions.” and etc

CONCLUSION, 2008

It’s taken me more than eight years to write anything of what happened in Austin in the Spring of 2000. I installed The Voting Chamber and came to find out that Odell Barnes, Jr., was scheduled to die though likely innocent of the murder of which he was convicted.

The installation included an empty chair with the name “Mr. Bush” taped to the back, sitting beside a cassette player that continuously played a ten-minute audio loop of Mr. Barnes’ lawyer explaining that he needed more time to present the strong evidence of a frame-up he had discovered in Odell’s case.

The installation inspired a march of hundreds in Austin who chanted as they marched around the Governor’s Mansion against the Death Penalty:

This all occurred during the Super Tuesday Presidential Primaries as George W. Bush, the Governor of Texas, fought Arizona Senator John McCain for the Republican nomination, Spring 2000. The installation was up during the SXSW music festival, and the venue was a site for the Austin festival so thousands saw it.

George W. Bush and The State of Texas murdered the innocent 22-year-old, Odell Barnes, Jr. on March 1st of the year 2000. The message was clear as Bush ran for President on an active record of becoming the single individual Governing the execution of more people in U.S. history.

Odell Barnes, Jr.s’ last meal request was for “justice, equality and world peace,”

and his last words were:

“I thank you for proving my innocence although it has not been acknowledged in the courts. May you continue in the struggle and may you change all that’s been done here today and in the past.”

Nine months later, George W. Bush was appointed President of the United States by the Supreme Court – contravening democracy at the most basic level –  thanks to massive problems with vote counting and issues of voter suppression in the State of Florida, where Bush’s own brother, Jeb, was Governor.

The canvas “No Real Choice 2000,” finished two months before the election, was startlingly prophetic.

99 is the Summer of Unity, (From New York to the World), 1999

10 Thursday Jun 1999

Posted by mtk in NYC, poetry

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1999, 99, brooklyn, from, is, Karthik, m.t. karthik, mtk, new, new york, of, summer, the, to, unity, world, york

From New York to the World
’99 is the summer of Unity

Indian time is measured by the moon
but this is a lyric for the month of June
“I like New York in June, how about you ?”

july and august maybe into september
if we make it last we’ll have something to remember

this is the evolution of the revolution
known as urban contribution
we’re rubbing out the borders and the edges of the thing
so we can get together and sing

99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world
99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world
99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world

there ain’t no such thing as the 21st century
there’s only right now that includes everybody
from Tokyo to Paris, Frisco to Mali
we all know who the greatest is … it’s ali.
we can talk about you and all about me
but what it comes down to is we

99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world
99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world
99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world

niggahs on the left side crackers on the right
everybody who knows better can separate the fight
by jumping in the middle and shouting out the chorus
but you got to shake your ass or you know you’re gonna bore us

everybody’s looking for the next big thing
Y2K ain’t shit yet, so just sing

99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world
99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world
99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world

Saramago’s written a book
in which we all get blindness
while the dalai lama says
his true religion is kindness

I don’t know what the answers are but you might be forgiven
if you put away your bigotry and listen to the women!

99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world
99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world
99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world

nobody knows where we’re going
nobody can say about the weather
but wherever we’re all headed
we’re in it together.

99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world
99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world
99 is the summer of unity
from new york to the world

M.T. Karthik, Brooklyn, 1999

David Dinkins Lecture, Mingus Big Band, NYC, 1998

13 Friday Feb 1998

Posted by mtk in journal entries, NYC, reviews

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1998, Band, Big, cafe, David, Dinkins, fez, Karthik, m.t., Mayor, Mingus, mtk, new, new york, ny, the, time, york

2/13/98ce
–55 West 13th Street, Manhattan, New York, noonish on a Friday

Yo, I was set up …  by Mingus
and knocked down  … by The Mingus Big Band
over gin and tonics at the Fez.

Last night after work I went to a lecture by David Dinkins, former Mayor of New York, sponsored by The New School.  It was a part of a series of lectures taking place this semester entitled, “Media and Race Relations.”   Dinkins feels like a really positive old guy.  Very forthright and direct and even-handed.  He read a prepared speech and then fielded questions from the crowd of maybe twenty or thirty people on hand.  The speech was rhythmic and well-paced, addressing the topic in general terms and peppered with a couple of extemporary examples.

He did not say anything too unusual, said what the ex-first-Black-Mayor-of-New-York-City-who-was-embattled-throughout-his-administration-and-who-lost-re-election-by-the-same-slim-margin-he-won-by-first-time-round might be expected to say, that, and I’m paraphrasing here, things under the current administration pretty much suck … unless you’re rich.  That the crime rate being down is a good thing, but that it was his previous administrations programs that were primarily responsible.  That the current Mayor is a bully.  He defended himself against the main controversy of his term.

He is a politician after all and was obliged thus to say some things about America and “this great City,” and so on.   He spoke eloquently about the disparities of this city, though.  Mentioned that the infant mortality rate on the Upper East Side of Manhattan is 5.4 per 1,000 live births and in Fort Green Brooklyn, less than twenty miles away, it is 24 per 1,000 live births.  A frightening and sad statistic.  He mentioned another statistic that I found staggering: regarding the media and it’s treatment of women and women’s issues.

In a recent media study, he reported, it was found that when a person is referred to in the Main section of the paper, 86% of the time it is a male person, in the business section 85%, and in the Metropolitan sections 76% of the time references are to men.  Of the occasions when women are mentioned in the paper, more than 50% of the time it is as a perpetrator of some crime or in some other negative connotation.

These numbers are weird and I can not understand really how they are conceived.  I’d like to look into that.

It’s funny how a thought becomes a statistic becomes a fact and a part of social truth.  Paz:  “the North American … substitutes social truth for real truth which is always disagreeable.”  Labyrinth of Solitude, 1950.

The lecture was good.  I look forward to the next one in the series by the Reverend Al Sharpton.

(Afterward, I came back here to the office and edited the third draft of “Mahmoud Singh.”  It’s a good first story for New York.  I feel tired of it now though.  It doesn’t breathe enough.  Need to make a new one.  When?  When I get some peace of mind.)

MB made 9:00 reservations for us at the Time cafe and Fez Supper Club.

While I was waiting for him at the school, I was chatting with the security guard and a young woman who was also waiting, to meet someone after class.  I said to the guard, “You’ve heard of home-sickness, right? … what do you call it when you have no home and yet you feel a sickness? That is, you have no place to be homesick for but you feel a sickness for a home that exists in your mind?”

The young woman said, “Identity Crisis.”

I waited for MB at my building until ten minutes to 9, then we hopped in a cab to the club at Great Jones and Lafayette streets in the East Village.  Arrived right at 9 and went in.  “Time” is labyrinthine with an upstairs glass-walled, fishbowl restaurant and then a blue archway leading to an inner red-boothed bar, both filled with the pretty people and then a stairwell down into the sanctum, a blue walled hallway leading to the supper club known as The Fez, where we were met by a beautiful young bronzey Black woman wearing a wireless headset who was responsible for seating us.  Girl was fine and had a sweet smile.  I said to her, looking as deeply as I could into her eyes in the darkness of the low-ceilinged club, “it must be difficult walking around with disembodied voices in your head.” and I smiled.  She looked puzzled at first and then was actually interrupted by the voice in the headset to which she responded first and then smiled that beautiful smile and said to me, “Yeah, it gets a little confusing when it’s busy.”  Fine.

We sat and ordered a round of drinks.  MB had the usual.  I was hungry and ordered some Salmon which was not great.  It was boring and tasted like nothing except the sauces and spices which were hardly placed on the plate.  Even the supposed blackened salmon with wasabi-vinagrette that sounded so nice was boring food, and too expensive.

The deal on the gig was that the cover was $18 and there was a two-drink minimum, but you could stay for the second set once you were inside.  Dinner was not included and we were wearing serious critics ears after dropping so much bread for the much-hyped Mingus Big Band.  Much of it was choice of course, because I wanted to estimate the place, quality of the food, seating etc.

I spent three bucks on the coatcheck and 18 to get in and 63 on drinks and dinner.  That’s $84 for the two of us with the show included.  We were there at 9:00 and the show started at 9:30.

The set up:

The Mingus Big Band is a Workshop group that plays the music of Charles Mingus.  They opened the set by telling us they were going to play some music they hadn’t practiced fully, that they hadn’t looked at in a long time.  It was odd.  The performance started with a chart called, “Slippers,” and they were literally signalling and calling out changes and sections to one another.  It felt crowded and unrehearsed. They were working shit out while they played.  It gave MB and I pause.  We figured we had been taken.  $18 and the drinks for this?  We are new to New York, him a year and a half and me a few months, we didn’t know any better than to attend the Mingus Big Band, thinking we’d hear some Mingus wicked-like.

They were struggling their way through the shit when I actually wrote on a napkin at one point, “MINGUS DONE 20 YEARS and STILL KICKING ALL Y’ALLS ASSES”

The band also recognized their benefactor, Sue Mingus who was in attendance, a blonde, short-haired (business cut) older white woman with a kindly, smiley way about her.  Then they introduced a Mingus contemporary, one Mr. Howard Johnson who played in a Mingus septet at one point and who charted an arrangement of “OP,” a tune originally written for Oscar Pettitford.  Mr. Johnson was to direct the band in playing it.  He introduced it with some discussion about his relationship with Mingus and then actually took a moment to remind the band of some changes and notations.  Again it was odd.  Like a practice session.

They flubbed the shit out of it so badly they had to be counted into the “D” section.  It was almost comical. But occasionally our thoughts crept to how much we’d paid to see the show.

The set break came and we decided to take a little stroll around the block.  We got back to try to find some better seats, since the second set was less crowded.  The sweet hostess with the headset made a little small talk with me and smiled that beautiful smile again.  She led us to a pair of seats front and center.  Many people left, but there were several sticking around for the second half.

The Knock Down

Bam! How can I describe the second set to you without explaining that we were HAD!  The dark, low-hanging ceiling of the Fez filled out with the radical sounds of Mingus!  It was crazy.  It was like a different group came on.  They were wild and soloing like crazy and just out of this world.  Hollering and yelling and playing tight tight tight Mingus licks like they weren’t even the same band as the first set.  It was too much.  MB and I kept staring across the table at one another and laughing.  They completely turned us around.  It ended with a raging take on Better Get Hit in Yo Soul which knocked the doors off the place.  It was two different gigs:  a rehearsal/workshop and a straight ahead performance!  Cool.

An instructor from the New School is the bass player in the band and he had a student come up and jam on harmonica at the gig, too.  It was right on to be associated with the cat.  Big-ass shoes to fill, and he did so respectfully and with modesty.  Even had some skills, too.

The deal

The Mingus Big Band plays at the Time Cafe in the Fez Club.  $18 for both sets OR with student ID, $10 for the second set only!!!  They’re saving the shit, man.  Go second half!!!  And find yourself the soul of Mingus kicking through a 15-piece, sweet-ass, tight-playing, booty-kicking band.  The food’s overpriced unless you get something like hummus or chips, and the two-drink minimum is worth it if you’re coming in that late anyway.  Mingus Big Band, a nice time.

So yo,  I was set up and knocked down by the Mingus Big Band over gin and tonics at the Fez.

Afterward we walked for a while and ended up at the Coffeeshop on Union Square for a bite to eat, then I cabbed it home.  Expensive nights are all too much fun in NYC.

Peace.

<Break>

working vacation

the long ing

22 Sunday Sep 1996

Posted by mtk in poetry

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Tags

1996, ing, Karthik, long, m.t., mtk, poem, the

the long

ing

doesn’t hurt

it’s too long

to hurt

anymore

M.T. Karthik

This blog archives early work of M.T. Karthik, who took every photograph and shot all the video here unless otherwise credited.

Performances and installations are posted by date of execution.

Writing appears in whatever form it was originally or, as in the case of poems or journal entries, retyped faithfully from print.

all of it is © M.T. Karthik

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