Living in the Fields, Leonid Kudryavtzev (1945)

Newcastle. via.

Boston. via.

"Eroica." Courtesy of the BBC.

Like opening up the garage and dusting the thing off. Hidden underneath a tarp.

I wonder if I should subtitle this blog 'evanfleischer dot com in exile.'

NEW WEBSITE:

http://evanfleischer.com

(Sorry, Nicole! Sorry, Meg! ... John?)

The Day the Declaration Arrived.

Hand to hand to broadsheet to horseback to public proclamation read over a square, flung to thump on the ground in front of the door, eyes racing over it in a private home: what can be said of the day the Declaration of Independence first arrived?

John Hancock was the man in charge of distribution. The outlet was the Continental Post Office. From there, it reached the hands of Washington, who was told to "proclaim it at the Head of the Army," which was done on July 9th, as well as other leaders.

Under Washington's orders, as Pauline Maier's American Scripture relates:

... with the British "constantly in view, upon and at Staten Island," as one participant recalled, the brigades were "formed in hollow squares on their respective parades," where they heard the Declaration read, as the General had specified, "with an audible voice." The event, Washington hoped, would "serve as a free incentive to every officer, and soldier, to act with Fidelity and Courage, ... knowing that now the peace and safety of his Country depends (under God) solely on the success of our arms: And that he is now in the service of a State, possessed of sufficient power to reward his merit, and advance him to the highest Honors of a free Country." By raising the spirit of the people, the Declaration might also encourage men to join the army and so help American affairs "take a more favorable Turn," as Hancock and the Congress hoped. A call could finally go out for men to fight "for the Defense of the Liberties and Independence of the United States."

... The festivities as Philadelphia on July 8 began with members of the Committee of Safety and Committee of Inspection going "in procession" to the State House, where "the Declaration of Independency of the United States of America was read to a very large number of the inhabitants of the City and Country," who responded, a newspaper account said, with "general applause and heart-felt satisfaction." John Adams recalled that "the Battalions parade on the Common, and gave Us the Feu de Joie, notwithstanding the Scarcity of Powder. The Bells rang all Day and almost all night." In the evening, too, bonfires were lit and houses were "illuminated" by candles put in their windows, as colonists had done in earlier days to celebrate the King's birthday.

... in Williamsburg, Virginia, "the Declaration of Independence was solemnly proclaimed at the Capitol, the Court House, and the Palace." And in Savannah the document was read four times -- in the Council Chamber by those officials who first received the letter from Hancock; in the square before the Assembly House "to a great concourse of people"; at the Liberty Pole, to which civil officials and local militiamen marched in a formal procession, and where, "after the reading of the Declaration," the Georgia battalion "discharged their field pieces, and fired in platoons"; then, finally, at the Truestees Gardens, "where the Declaration was read for the last time, and the cannon of the battery discharged."

... to assure that the people were "universally informed" of the Declaration, as Hancock requested, provincial officials devised means of circulating the news through the rural countryside, where over nine out of every ten Americans lived ...

... Pennysylvania's Committee of Safety sent letters by an express rider "to the Counties of Bucks, Chester, Northampton, Lancaster, and Berks, Inclosing a Copy of the said Declaration, requesting the same to be publish'd on Monday next, at the places where the Election for Delegates are to be held."

... Virginia asked sherrifs to proclaim the Declaration each "at the door of his courthouse the first court day after he shall have received the same."

... Rhode island had the Declaration read in the state's several towns "at their next stated meetings."

... Massachusetts not only told sherrifs to "proclaim Independency," but also ordered ministers in the parishes of every religious denomination to read the Declaration to their congregations "as soon as divine Service is ended ... on the first Lord's Day after they shall receive it," and then to deliver the document to the clerks of their towns or districts so it could be recorded in local records and remain there "as a perpetual Memorial thereof."

... The North Carolina Council of Safety let recipients in that colony's towns and counties decide how best to reach the people, asking only that the Declaration "be proclaimed in the most public Manner."

... The Maryland Council of Safety also told "the several committees of Observation in each County and Distrinct in this Province" to proclaim the Declaration in whatever manner seemed "most proper for the Information of the People."

... The Declaration appeared in the Pennsylvania Evening Post on July 6, in the Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote -- in German -- on the 9th, and in no fewer than thirty other American newspapers before the month was over.

What do we learn from James Munves' Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence? That:

The publication was a rush job.

... Dunlap, either influenced by Adams or on his own, substituted the less frequently used unalienable for inalienable in certain unalienable rights.

... The following morning a copy was glued into the Journal of Congress and others were dispatched to the states and to the troops in the field.

... Jefferson remained annoyed at the way his Declaration had been edited.

It was published in the Philadelphia Evening Post on July 6th, and according to "Seth Kaller, Inc," "by the end of August 1776, the Declaration had been printed in at least 29 newspapers and 14 broadsides."

The publisher's name was Benjamin Towne, the only hint of whose life takes the form of a satiric pamphlet concerning his potential verbosity and willingness to change sides, as he tailored the paper to General Howe's arrival within the city during the course of the war.


It reached Boston on July 13th, a public reading was held on July 18th, and The New England Chronicle published a copy on the same day.

There are accounts of it being read to the Continental Army ("every where received with loud huzzahs"),

Book Review: Anselem Berrigan - "Free Cell."

Anselem Berrigan's Free Cell is a book-length poem divided into three parts -- "Have a Good One," "Let Us Sample Protection Together," and "To Hell With Sleep." It is his fourth book of poetry, and it's published by City Lights. "Have a Good One" invokes Stephan Mallarme's "Un Coup De Des Jamais N'abira Le Hazard," even meta-name-checks it as the reader goes through the verse ("Production values / among other grandchildren / of Mallarme), where he encounters unexpected puns (Must we demand / of our pop tarts / a public crack-up / during war time?), jokes (Kingfisher sighting sparks / epic stroll), lines that strike us ("I'm micromanaging nausea," "Monolithic derelict fuck."), neologisms (droolsultory, public meltups), and then there are the thetic chunks (and my apologies in advance for not being able to directly copy the type-setting):

... when
zombies lose their appe-
tites can we rehabilitate

'em back into the game?
I sympathize with the
difficult people, why
should transitions be
seamless, Sylvie hates to
go to sleep, no she hates
the "go" part & so do I

awake, smiling toothlessly
at our anti-lyric non-concepts
our pro-war liberties, our
embrace of our own private
communiques besieged
for, like, happiness of
a minor place's kindling.

...

I don't want love or remorse to follow
I want them in the way, things to burst through
corollaries to be roped and tackled
by surprise, get killed, and thank you. One fate
transforms into another, but I won't
touch that bandaged story. I won't belong
to this scripted conversation, though I
may play along.

Outside of Mallarme, one possible suggestion for how "Free Cell" wishes itself to be read (as in, how it defines its aesthetic parameters; to say, 'This is where the text will go') is contained, simply, in this: "Liquify our symbols."

It is a book designed to be read melodically, in and of itself, and that is something a review can't fully convey.

And but, and yet, and still: this is a smart, strong book, and it's well worth your time.

Where was I last night?

Here.

via Reuters:

President Barack Obama plunged his presidency into a charged racial debate

What percentage of the budget has been devoted to it? Are any of the members of the cabinet involved? Any Ambassadors? The Vice President? Were any members of the Senate or House directed towards addressing the issue in any way? Were all current projects and initiatives stopped, and all those involved directed to take part in this matter of opinion?

and set off a firestorm with police officers nationwide by siding with a prominent black scholar who accuses police of racism.

Cambridge police. Cambridge. Not 'police officers' nationwide. And it was 'acted stupidly,' not 'are,' or 'have a continuous streak of being,' it's acted, an instance.


(link.)

Notes: Twitter.

A lot of us are on twitter.

Here's a grouping of items that came about as a result of twittering/tweeting:

1. Music Tweet Day (feat.): Lonnie "the Cat": I Ain't Drunk, The Cave Singers: Dancing On Our Graves, Howlin' Wolf: How Many More Years? , Bo Diddley - Hey, Bo Diddley, Bobby Charles - Take It Easy, Greasy, Pavement - Cut Your Hair, Tuvan Throat Singing, Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain: Shaft, and Roots Jam Session.

2. Quotes:

At the Star Trek movie. I'm the only one wearing red. And nobody knows my name. Weird.

RT: @jakefogelnest Hey there! I am Jake Fogelnest! This is my home telephone number: (646) 484-5323. I'm home now - let's see who calls!

Jon is trying to teach Leta how to sing in tune, so it sounds like a deaf cat being raped with a tuba in here.

I feel like I'm holding a cane straight up in the air, waiting for an umbrella to appear.

Criticism about "Exit, pursued by a bear" is remarkably hard to find.

Julia M.: "Come to San Francisco and you'll see pure Yoda-filled beauty."

3. Italian Poetry in the 70's (or pretty close to): Eugenio Montale: (1), (2), (3) ; Giovanni Raboni; Giuseppe Ungaretti: (1) Virgil, (2) Italy, (3) Variations on Nothing (*Cheating a bit, I know.)

4. Biographical Tweets

-- Josie: "Ripping in the Dark: The Evan Fleischer Story."

-- was given a new nickname - a "white cornel west."

6. Conversations

@efleischer Phrase i haven't heard: "tweet in me, muse - "
@breadtweed "tweet, oh muse, of the great and noble deeds of Evanius, the hero, the clever and brave soldier...i'm out of characters? Alrea"
@efleischer @breadtweed I can't wait for Virgil to steal this.

A sentence worth thinking about:

"What replaces characterization, the human element, is pacing."

Turns Out It's True.

I made a joke about this two years ago.

Mirror Neurons

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wikilink

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Frontal Cortex: Mirror Neurons and Fandom.

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Interview with Scientific American.

An Excerpt From The Corner Which I Haven't Seen Mentioned in Conversations About The Wire

Pg. 38 - 39:

Now, a drug corner is all about product and name recognition.

"Got orange tops."
"Big whites. Big white bags."
"Reds. Red tops. Reds make you sparkle. Red tops."
And, as always, "In the Hole."
Black Beauty, a dark-skinned tout known for her hard look, is busy touting today for that crew, which sells heroin under a brand name that has its origin in local geography. Perfectly isolated, the back alley that runs between Mount and Vincent on the south side of Fayette has long been known as the Hole. In service of that brand, Black Beauty walks a tight circle on Mount Street, barking in mindless repetition, like a mating bird left lonesome in spring.

"In the Hole. In the Hole. In the Hole."

Charles Mingus - Flowers for a Lady (1974) - Italy