The Blessing Of Failure

I feel a bit discouraged by American culture. today. I have been trying to do some activism work in the Michigan area concerning a case of anti-gay bigotry I ran into at a television station there. To this end I've been contacting people in the area asking for support and finding that even gay people are afraid to stand up against discrimination.

It makes me wonder what happened to the revolutionary spirit from the 60s that young people once had. A lot of people claim to be liberal minded, but when it comes down to putting themselves on the line and taking action, they are not willing to act. And when you don't fight institutionalized discrimination, it wins by default.

It seems at the end of the day people are conformist. People seem frightened to go against the system in even the smallest way. I can't understand why they are so timid. Is it the money? It seems people have a hard time imagining that some things are more important then money. They fear risking their materialistic lifestyles by making waves.

Ever since the Reagan years America has been focused on money as the highest goal. The fruits of this value system are clearly seen in our culture.

These days the front line in the battles against prejudice and bigotry are the small towns and cities across America where backward thinking still thrives. For this reason I have tried to focus my work with The Imperial Orgy on such places. In New York City we are preaching to the converted. There's no point in it.

But in Middle America we act as a lightning rod to bring discrimination to the surface, where it can then be confronted. This has been our mission for years.

Because we are often tangled up in such controversies people sometimes accuse us of using controversy as a way to make money. But after 15 years we have never made a cent of money. And it is likely we never will. In fact we spend our day job money to support the causes and art we believe in. We have the blessing of failure to free us. Since we have given up on the idea that we can be commercially viable, it frees us to think only of artistic and political concerns. It's a unique position that few artists attain these days.

Orgy TV comes to Portage, MIchigan

The Imperial Orgy continues to do our part to help corrupt (ie:free) American Culture!!

The Imperial Orgy TV Show series will soon be broadcasting on channel 19 in Portage, Michigan.

The show is a fun filled arts variety shows that delivers experimental films, artist profiles, comedy skits, music videos, and documentary shorts.

For more info visit the show's website at www.orgytv.org.

The Imperial Orgy TV Show comes to Romeo, MI

Beginning in March The Imperial Orgy TV Show series will begin airing on WBRW Channel 6 in Romeo, Michigan.

For more info on Orgy TV visit the show's website by
Click here

The Values We Hold

Yesterday in my day job as a music promoter I was speaking to a wealthy lawyer who wrote some songs and got some other people to play and sing them, and now wants to promote them in hopes of selling them to a publisher. During the conversation he said to me, "I can't let my name be associated with this. I can't ruin my reputation for my serious work. People would think I was went nuts."

I think this comment says a lot about how people view the arts in America. Art is not serious work. The work of a lawyer has so much more value then that of an artist that it could ruin his reputation. In fact, to be involved in arts would make people think he was insane.

Of course his real motive is to tell his songs and make money off them. If art makes money, then it has value and you don't have to be ashamed of it.

Don't Look Back

Monday night I went to see a new 35mm print of Don't Look Back, the Bob Dylan documentary from 1965. We arrived a half an hour early in order to get good seats, but even at that time there was a line out the door and down the block.

For those who haven't see it, the film is a cinema verite profile of the 1965 Dylan tour of England. At that time Dylan was being treated in the way that teenyboppers treat Justin Timberlake or Hannah Montanna. The difference being that Dylan was singing intensely poetic lyrics laden with social/political meaning.

Throughout the film the mainstream press swarmed around Dylan, often plying him with inane questions. Dylan usually reacted with humor, but at times became combative. There is a painfully uncomfortable scene with a clueless, and somewhat frightened looking Time Magazine reporter that incites nervous laughter from the audience.

On the lighter side Dylan and his entourage try to laugh their way through the boredom and chaos of touring life. Among the entourage are folk singer Joan Baez. In one scene she is seen wearing a too-small cowboy hat and nonchalantly eating a banana as she sings one of Dylan's hits while inserting the word "banana" into the lyrics.

After the film the director D.A. Pennebaker came out for a Q&A session with the audience. Although he usually never quite answered the question put to him, he always had an interesting perspective on filmmaking and his experiences. I believe the event was webcast, but I'm not sure where.

What Lies Beneath?

Something Lies Beneath
I can feel it in my bones
If I can scratch away the air I am sure it will be revealed
But the air is too slippery
And the veil cannot be pierced

What lies beneath?
I can feel it vibrating when I am quiet
With a knife I slash away at the ocean
But the water is too wilely
It parts and then consumes my weapon
Not even a drop of blood?
Not even a spark of electricity?
I have failed again

I know it is there
There are times when I can almost see it
Perhaps it is a flash so bright it dissolves every thought?
Perhaps it is an explosion within the very atoms ?

I break rocks against concrete yet it remains hidden
I bite a grain of sand between my teeth but it simply dissolves
It taunts in the campfire flame
But when I reach into the flame to try to grasp it
My skin merely melt away

At night I lay silent hoping to catch it sneaking past my bed
But to no avail
In a silence that allows not even a single thought
I can almost hear it whisper
In the moment between waking and sleep it winks at me
But still its secret remains safe