a study of caffe trieste

untrammelled conversation, the intimate back-and-forthing
of wayfarers and local characters and assorted visitors
old women with curious eyes and investigative spirits
paying their respects to dispossessed artists and isolated dreamers
the pleasant din of copper-bottomed pans and baking tins and forks and knives
performing a silverware symphony
with the counterpoint of the jukebox
hearkening back to fifty years ago
history’s pouring out of the jukebox
history is painted on the walls and suffused throughout the building
and in the silverware and in the people
and in the black-and-white photographs on the walls
and on the slightly faded mural on the wall with gondoliers and sunbaked buldings
it’s in the poetry that was written and
stories told, and stories untold, and stories yet to be told

***
seasoned conversation

the scent of roasted olives and sundried tomatoes
wafting through the building
olive oil and crushed garlic
basil infusions and fire-roasted peppers
with an admixture of lively conversation
of fires and friendships and failures and findings

***
was sarah there?

so he said and she said and they said and you said and
did they come to the party and were they there and did you see
mary’s lovely white dress at the dance and did paul bring you
the old edition and did sarah come did sarah come please tell me
did she come? yes she did, sarah was there, sarah was there with her long perfect hair and her sparkling conversation and impeccable taste and other literary cliches. what did she do? what did sarah do? tell me what she did, oh, please, oh, please! sarah was never a good girl, was she? was she, now, was she? i always knew she was trouble behind that perfect smile. now mustn’t avoid the topic, don’t let’s ignore sarah. what do you mean, sarah’s business is hers? explain, explain, this is sarah we’re discussing. pray tell, pray tell, tell me her story.

***
joy in simplicity

subtle conversation under the innumerable stars;
old volumes in letterpress, letterforms slightly eroded with
the passage of time;
classical beauty on stretched canvas in gilt frames;
the symbols of the Universe’s hidden Platonic forms;
dew forming pointillist landscapes on primroses and proper roses;
verbal puzzles of typography and intricate mazes of words;
women’s airy voices set against lush electronic soundscapes;
the sinuous curves of calligraphic words on slightly porous creamy coloured paper;
sublime figures cast in marble and precious stone;
and the wonder of knowing that I am an “I”, observing myself and you and this
multifarious universe.

Finn Gardiner resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, and created these pieces on the spot during our January reception. He may be reached at sodalitas.paludis@googlemail.com and welcomes comments and feedback from other writers.

A Call for Cowboy, Western, Ranch or Native American Art

The Sun Gallery will host an exhibition called “The Wild, Wild, West II”, to run in conjunction with Castro Valley’s Rowell Ranch Rodeo. The show dates are April 14 to May 15, 2010, at the Sun Gallery, 1015 E Street in Hayward, California.

We are calling for submissions of art for this exhibit.  Artwork can be any media including, but not limited to, painting, sculpture, glasswork, ceramics, drawing, photography and assemblage. Artwork will be juried for entry digitally or by photo at no cost to the artist. The deadline for consideration of your work is March 20, 2010.

Submission of Works:

You may email your contact information, including your E-Mail address and phone number, along with your jpeg images to amy@sungallery.org with Wild, Wild West II in the subject line or by regular mail to 1015 E St., Hayward CA 94541-5210. JPEGs should be no larger than 8″ in height and 300 dpi maximum. Please name your files as follows: firstinitial.lastname.title.jpg. If you are submitting via CD, please use the same criteria.   

If you have any questions, please contact us by email: sungallery@comcast.net or amy@sungallery.org

Artists will be notified on an ongoing basis if their art has been selected for this show. If your work is chosen to be part of the show you will be E-Mailed a contract and an inventory list.

The following are the guidelines and fees for the show:

1) A fee of $65 will include a discounted membership, invitations, and a hanging fee for up to 6 pieces not to exceed 24 sq. feet in wall area. You can pick up the invitations prior to the event at the gallery, or if you want them mailed to you, add another $5.00. If you already are a Sun Gallery member (2009 memberships have expired), the show fee will be $45. (Please make your check  payable to Sun Gallery.  If you wish to pay by credit card you can come to the gallery or call during regular business hours)

2) Artists must identify their work with a label attached to back of the piece with: name, title of the art piece, medium, and price.    All of this information must also be submitted on your inventory sheet.  This info will be used for the wall labels.  All wall mounted work must be wired and ready to hang, matted and framed or edges gallery wrapped and finished. No special installation requirements and no ceiling mounted works are eligible. We reserve the right to refuse accepted work that arrives damaged, is too fragile to be exhibited or was misrepresented in submission.

3)    A one page framed artist statement or bio will be displayed near your work if you submit one.

4)    Sun Gallery does not provide art insurance on your work.  The Gallery will take every precaution to ensure the safety of your pieces, however, we cannot be held responsible for theft or damage to your work while on the gallery premises.  Each artist, if they wish, needs to provide their own insurance.

5)    Sun Gallery will keep a 30% commission on any sale of artwork.                           

6)    No artwork will be removed from exhibition during the show.

7)    Out of Area Artists:    Artists are responsible for their shipping costs for the show. Work should arrive between March 27 and April 7, 2010.  Should your work not sell, you will be responsible for the shipping costs for their return. Work should be shipped in a reusable carton/box or packing crate.  No Styrofoam peanuts please!     Please include a $10 check payable to Sun Gallery to cover the labor expense for uncrating, storage of crates, re-crating your painting and contracting a shipper for return.  In a separate check, include a check made out to Sun Gallery to cover the cost of return shipping unless you provide your billing account number with a shipping company.  Both checks should be in an envelope inside the crate with your artwork.

8)    Local Artists:  Deliver uncrated, ready to hang or show, artwork to the Sun Gallery on the following dates:  Thursday, April 8, 11a.m. – 4 p.m., Friday, April 9, 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 10, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

9)    An artist reception will be planned for Saturday, April 24, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.  The participating artists provide the food or drinks.

 Here’s a glimpse of last year’s successful show:

From our friends at San Francisco’s Beat Museum – honoring the historical literary, artistic, and musical heritage of the Beat Generation. If anyone’s interested, here’s a way to help support the preservation of some of our world artistic history (and if any readers have a similar project or fund in your own towns/countries for your own cultural heritage, please feel free to email me or comment and I’ll make a post.)

They mentioned purchasing something from the museum during the slow California winter months…a great choice would be the film Beat Angel, about what would happen if Kerouac came back from the dead for one day, to inspire others. We’re reviewing that in next month’s issue, fantastic film!

Wanted to put out this opportunity to celebrate and support the arts! By the way, the Beat Museum is right around the block from our reception at Caffe Trieste – and they’re open till nine on Fridays now.

PLEASE HELP US PRESERVE THE JACK MICHELINE WALL
Jack Micheline was a beloved character in North Beach and all of San Francisco for many years.  A friend and confidante of many of the writers and artists who made up The Beat Generation, he was often called The Poet’s Poet.  Jack was well known for his live poetry performances and unique painting style.

We had a sudden and magnificent opportunity presented to us recently that required us to act fast and ask for help and support later.  A local bookstore, The Abandoned Planet located in the Mission District in SF, closed on December 31, 2009.  Micheline spent a lot of time over the years at The Abandoned Planet and became friendly with the owner, Scott Harrison.  At one point Scott asked Jack to paint a back room and Micheline covered it floor to ceiling on all four walls with his images and poetry.

With the sudden closing of Abandoned Planet we worked closely with Scott, Poet Jack Hirschman, Matt Gonzalez and the building manager Claude Marks to salvage Jack Micheline’s masterpiece and bring it to The Beat Museum.

Now we need to restore, preserve and display this magnificent piece of Beat Generation and San Francisco history.  The wall (all 25 linear feet of it) is now stored in pieces in our back rooms awaiting restoration.  We figure we need to raise $5,000 to restore and rebuild the wall so we can put it on permanent display at The Beat Museum.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:
Please consider making a donation to our Restoration Fund so we can achieve our goal of raising $5,000 so we can get to work on Rebuilding the Micheline Wall.  I realize this may not be the best week to ask for donations given so many of us have been riveted by the news and doing what we can to help the people of Haiti.  But my belief is we all do more than one thing at a time every day of our lives and there’s no reason we can’t help the people of Haiti and rebuild the Micheline Wall at the same time.  You can donate with either a credit card at Kerouac.com or via Paypal.

To Read the Story and See Photos of the Disassembling of the Painting at Abandoned Planet click here: 
http://www.thebeatmuseum.org/jack-micheline-wall/ 

To Make a Donation to the Reconstruction Fund and Receive a Free Gift from Kerouac.com, click here”
http://www.kerouac.com/cgi-local/cart.pl?db=michelinewall.txt

Watch a video of Abandoned Planet’s closing (includes footage of Micheline’s Wall):
http://missionlocal.org/2010/01/leaving-an-abandoned-planet/

Also, Diane di Prima’s San Francisco’s new Poet Laureate, and she’s coming to speak at the public library on Larkin St. in a few weeks! Go women Beats, and other under-recognized Beats!

DIANE DiPRIMA – SF’s NEW POET LAUREATE
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 – 5pm – 8pm

        *Poet Laureate Address*
Locations: Main Library Koret Auditorium
Address: 100 Larkin St. (at Grove)
Library Sponsored Public Program

Description:
San Francisco Poet Laureate inauguration address
Poet laureate Diane DiPrima discusses Poetry as Spiritual Practice.
Click here:  http://tinyurl.com/pnso4

RSVP appreciated but not required. Trieste is very casual, open to all ages…no need to dress up but you may if you like! Pets, skateboards, manuscripts, children, friends, dates, colleagues, people you just met ten minutes ago and pulled in with you…all welcome!

We’ll discreetly accept donations on behalf of Haiti’s earthquake survivors (Red Cross) and two contributors who are in dire financial need (homeless, medically disabled, etc.) So please give if you can, but still come one way or another!

Trieste is the historical watering-hole of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, and other Beats…great literature and jazz came out of Trieste, as well as a celebration of food, drink, friendship and other gifts from the neighborhood’s Italian-American heritage. Pictures from fifty years of history decorate the walls, and harmonica and mandolin music groups still come by for occasional visits.

A word about transportation – you may catch the Muni 8X bus from Third Street, in front of the Office Depot and near Montgomery BART, then get off at Columbus St. near City Lights Books. On the way back, some bus lines have been discontinued so your best bets are either catching the plentiful cabs for a $6 ride back to Montgomery BART or taking the 8X Muni back northbound and waiting a few minutes till it circles all the way around. Please feel free to call me, Cristina, with any questions or if you get lost, at 510-589-8252. See you there!

Please feel free to bring manuscripts, artwork to show off, resumes, business cards, etc. If you’re looking for a mentor for your creative efforts, this would be a great place to find one.

From the link http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93314?fp=1

With Haiti still reeling from Tuesday’s devastating earthquake, the Red Cross has stated that it has run out of medical supplies on the island nation.

More supplies are on the way, but it is unknown when they will arrive. Meanwhile, on the Web, people eager to help are seeking out unique ways in which they can help.

In the Search box, some of the biggest queries are for different ways to “text to help.” For example, the Red Cross has set up a system where a cell phone user can text “Haiti” to the number 90999. The text message will result in a $10 donation to the Red Cross. So far, the campaign has been a massive hit. According to Mashable, the texting option has already raised over $800,000.

Another popular option for cell phone users eager to help: Text “Yele” to 501501. Doing so will result in a $5 donation to Yéle Haiti, a grassroots organization started by singer and Haiti native Wyclef Jean. Over the course of the day, Web searches on Wyclef and his organization have soared to record highs.

Wyclef, famous for his participation in the Fugees as well as his successful solo career, has been outspoken in seeking donations, especially via his Twitter account.

We could find no stats on how successful his drive has been, but based on anecdotal stories from the Web, text-to-give campaigns have the potential to make a big difference. The San Francisco Chronicle interviewed several young people who have made donations and have also asked their friends to donate via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Even if you’d rather not donate via text message, there are other ways to give your support to those who need it most. The official sites for the Red Cross, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, and Wyclef’s Yéle Haiti are all accepting donations. Searches on those organizations surged tremendously on Wednesday afternoon.

Hi all,

If you happen to be in the Bay Area this spring, I’m scheduled to give two readings so far:

1.  Thursday March 11, 4 p.m., with Cecilia Woloch, MLK Library on 4th St., 2nd Floor Meeting Rooms (at this reading Cecilia will read her poetry, and I will be discussing how poetry functions in my new novel, Complementary Colors).

2.  Wednesday April 7, 7 p.m., MLK Library on 4th St., 2nd Floor Meeting Rooms (a reading from my new novel, with audience Q&A)

Cheers,
Kate