Schlechter Duvall has passed away...

I posted about my Surrealist commrade Schlechter Duvall back in May. It is with sadness that I report from his family that he has passed away. I will be posting some new info on Schlechter in tribute to him this coming week.

His ever-potent quote which used to be next to my easel: "Surrealism always was, still is, and always will be the first and last force of revolt on this Earth. It exists only for one reason: to realize freedom. And for freedom's sake, I want to warn every human being that surrealism is more than ever ALIVE!"

Lawrence Welk has been killed

...run over by Tiger Woods. RIP Lawrence........ah one and a two and a .............

What are the Surrealists doing....?

The newest Declaration from the International Surrealist Movement:


International Surrealist Declaration
for the imprisoned Serbian anarchosyndicalists
-We hereby declare our unconditional solidarity with the five* Serbian anarcho-syndicalists who have been imprisoned since September the 4th, facing the charge of “international terrorism.” Tadej Kurep, Ivan Vulović, Sanja Dojkić, Ratibor Trivunac and Nikola Mitrović, all members of Sindikalna konfederacija Anarho-sindikalistička inicijativa (ASI), were arrested some days after an action of solidarity with the Greek activist, and then-hunger striker, Thodoris Iliopoulos. The target of this action was the Greek embassy in Belgrade.
The Serbian authorities used the slight damages caused to the building of the Greek embassy as a pretext in order to exercise their repressive powers, labeling the members of ASI as “terrorist” and detaining them with no substantial evidence of their actual involvement in this so-called crime of damaging the façade of a building. It is not the building, of course, that concerns the Serbian police; neither is it the symbolism, per se, of an attack against the embassy of another state: the real impact of international solidarity and radical politics, with a view towards social emancipation, is what makes them transgress the limits of their supposed democracy, so as to imprison militants through farcical procedures.
Ratibor Trivunac, one of the accused, is a friend of the international surrealist movement. But surrealism is not an exclusive club of personal relations, any more than it is one of mere aesthetic affinities. We consider as our brothers all these five persecuted Serbian militants (and the sixth, Ivan Savic, who was arrested some days later) because their cause, their choice to live and to struggle for another, liberated life, is one that we share. When a state lays its oppressive hand upon one of us, we must all feel the threat to our freedom, we must all take a stand with those who risk being deprived of their elementary freedoms because they are determined to fight, here and now, for real universal freedom.
We demand the immediate release of our six comrades and friends!
The passion for freedom is stronger than any of your prisons!

Athens Surrealist Group:
Grigoris Apostolides, Giannis Golfinopoulos, Manolis Daskalos, Alexandra Halkias, Diamantis Karavolas, Vangelis Koutalis, Sotiris Liontos, Helias Melios, Lefki Mossou, Makis Perdikomatis, Nikos Stabakis, Theoni Tabaki, Marianna Xanthopoulou, Giannis Xourias.

Nicosia: Kostas Reousis.

Leeds Surrealist Group:
Gareth Brown, Stephen J. Clark, Kenneth Cox, Luke Dominey, Jan Drabble, Bill Howe, Caroline Jeffs, Sarah Metcalf, Mike Peters, Peter Overton, Martin Trippett.

Surrealist London Action Group (SLAG):
Paul Cowdell, Merl Fluin, Aniano Henrique, Patrick Hourihan.


Grupo Surrealista de Madrid:
José Arias Taboada, Eugenio Castro, Manuel Crespo, Javier Gálvez, Jesús García Rodríguez, Vicente Gutiérrez Escudero, Bruno Jacobs, Lurdes Martínez, Julio Monteverde, Noé Ortega, Antonio Ramírez, José Manuel Rojo, María Santana y Ángel Zapata.
and its friends:
Sonia Ayerra, Rag Cuter, Andrés Devesa, Jesús González Gómez, Paul Hammond, Inés Mendoza, Emilio Santiago, Leticia Vera and the Anarchist Group Al Margen.

Groupe Surréaliste de Montréal:
Jean-Maurice Brouillet, Dominic Tétrault.

Le Groupe de Paris du mouvement surréaliste:
Michèle Bachelet, Alfredo Fernandes, Jean-Pierre Guillon, Michaël Löwy, Marie-Dominique Massoni, Dominique Paul, Michel Zimbacca.

La Vertèbre et le Rossignol (ville de Québec):
Enrique Lechuga, David Nadeau.

on behalf of Grupo Surrealista del Río de la Plata/Buenos Aires-Montevideo:
Juan Carlos Otaño.

on behalf of Skupina Českých a Slovenských Surrealistů:
Frantisek Dryje, Katerina Pinosova, Bertrand Schmitt, Bruno Solarik.

Surrealistgruppen i Stockholm, Johannes Bergmark.

Sürrealist Eylem Türkiye

Surrealist Movement in U.S.A.:

Chicago Surrealist Group: Penelope Rosemont, Paul Garon, Beth Garon, Gale Ahrens, David Roediger, Joseph Jablonski, Joel Williams, Jan Hathaway, Irene Plazewski, Janina Ciezadlo, Renay Kirkman, Tamara L. Smith.

Portland: Brandon Freels, M.K. Shibek.

The St. Louis Surrealist Group:
Richard Burke, Susan Burke, Andrew Torch, M. M. Morose.

Eric Bragg (www.surrealcoconut.com)



• - Currently six imprisoned

October 31, 2009

Sarane Alexandrian has died.

The group of Surrealist Movement members directly associated with Breton, Picabia and other Pre-WWII members becomes one fewer this week. Sarane was an active Movement member in the 1940's - 1950's, director of NEON, headed the journal Supérieur Inconnu, wrote the overview 'Surrealist Art' (1969) and countless other books and novels. Our comrade will be missed.

Rep. Joe Wilson, you so crazzzy

Another sad and brazen display of impertinence in Congress shadowed President Obama's address regarding healthcare reform in America. Representative Joe 'Can't shut my piehole' Wilson, interrupted the speech a couple of times shouting at the President and blatantly in a louder voice: 'You Lie'. I urge the South Carolinians who voted this buffoon into office to join us in the new century and elect a leader whose whiteness and dull wit will not continue to be a roadblock to progress in their state.

(Cartoon by me; submitted to the Editorial page at the St. Louis Post Dispatch)

Crucified Tree

On my way to work everyday I pass a solemn tree...

Arch connector and beer for all!

I have wondered over the last 2 or 3 months if President Obama is trying to tackle too many issues. Today, in our fair city by the muddy Mississippi we are gearing up for the Baseball All-Star Game but at the same time we had a visit from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. For the most part I like Salazar, I think he was a solid pick by Obama. What surprises the hell out of me, is what Salazar stated today during his visit:

(From the Post-Dispatch/Jake Wagman) Salazar noted what visitors before him have lamented for years: The Arch is cut off from the rest of downtown, isolated by the depressed interstate lanes that run along Memorial Drive.
"One of the things we need to do is find a way of connecting the Arch to the community of St. Louis," Salazar said. "That will be a priority of President Obama, and it will be a priority of mine."

Really? A priority? Our Senator Claire McCaskill must really be working her voodoo spell to bend the ears of Salazar and Obama enough to make the connecting-lid over the highway to the Arch grounds a priority. Hot damn!