Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Wallace Berman, Lenny Bruce and Dinner with the Cops



The Digger Papers was the final Diggers publication. The entire contents also appeared as issue no. 81 of Paul Krassner's The Realist, but this edition was printed separately for free distribution in San Francisco, as had their previous leaflets - some of which are reprinted here, along with new material. 


All the work in the Digger Papers is uncredited, in keeping with the Diggers non-attribution policy. I already knew that the book contained work by Gary Snyder and Richard Brautigan, but I was surprised to see a collage I recognized on one of the pages.


"Untitled" (Lenny Bruce) by Wallace Berman
I recognized this Wallace Berman collage, having seen it in the excellent 2009 exhibition at Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery. It is also reproduced on p. 17 of Semina Culture. It accompanies a poem called "Take a Cop to Dinner". The poem is probably a reaction to a proposal by the Haight Independent Proprietors (HIP) to improve communication between the police and members of the Haight Community by having dinner with a cop. There is an account of this meeting, and the reaction of the Diggers to it on p. 292 of Emmet Grogan's Ringolevio, which I've been reading along with Peter Coyote's Memoir Sleeping Where I Fall. 


It is a fascinating and beautiful page. Wallace Berman and Lenny Bruce both had problems with censorship and police response to their work. In Berman's case, the seizure of copies of Semina in the Ferus Gallery raid led to him withdrawing from the art world of the "City of Degenerate Angels." I wasn't aware of any connection between Wallace Berman and the Diggers. From reading Peter Coyote's memoir, I know that Billy Jahrmarkt (of Batman Gallery infamy) was associated with the Diggers - perhaps there are other links as well. The Diggers produced some of the most beautiful radical publications of the sixties, and this is a fascinating association with the Semina Circle and their work. 


The Digger Papers. [San Francisco]: Free City, nd. [c. 1969]. Some spotty foxing and staining to the wraps, but very good. 


From our upcoming lucky catalog no. 13, out in a matter of hours.

6 comments:

  1. Interesting. My father (Wallace Berman) didn't have any direct connection to the Diggers - at least from my knowledge. But then again, the world is small, so anything is possible.

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  2. August 31st, 2014




    Mr. Alexander Simon,
    Sir William Place,
    Apartment #305c;
    Boonie Doon,
    8820-85 Street,
    Edmonton, Alberta,
    CANADA T6C 3C2
    Telus Carrier Residential Phone: (780) 466-9719
    E-Mail: alexandersimonea@gmail.com



    ON CIRCUMCISM!!

    According to Funk & Wagnalls as per Chairman Mr. Albert H. Marchwardt, Professor of English and Linguistics: circumcise is removal of a male foreskin or a female clitoris. The interest is why the woman for not being involved in the Jewish practice of Bar Mitzvah? “Male circumcision (from Latin circumcidere, meaning "to cut around")[1] is the surgical removal of the foreskin(prepuce) from the human penis” yet dogs are not why people? How puzzling and stated in “The ceremony of circumcision is called the Brit milah. In the jewish faith they follow the scripture in Leviticus 12:3 that says baby boys are circumcised on the 8th day of life.” Accordingly to web statements http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/cycle/circumcision.htm; “There is no parallel practice for girls, and "female circumcision" has nothing to do with Judaism.” Again who does cut a females clitoris? According to “Female genital cutting (FGC), also known as female circumcision or female genital mutilation, is an ancient practice that predates the Abrahamic religions.” Http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2582648/ that “More than 130 million women worldwide have undergone female genital cutting.” The interest are these circumcised hold an independence?

    This reason needs policing! “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brit_milah and according to “The brit milah (Hebrew: בְּרִית מִילָה‎ [bʁit miˈla], Ashkenazi pronunciation [bʁis ˈmilə], "covenant of circumcision";Yiddish pronunciation, bris [bʀɪs]) is a Jewish religious male circumcision ceremony performed on the eighth day of a male infant's life by a mohel.” Thus to evade persecution “the Jewish Religion, argues that many Hellenistic Jews had an operation performed to conceal the fact of their circumcision.”

    The same reason is found for female circumcision. As stated though not yet persecuted; that “Female genital cutting is practiced by Muslims and non-Muslims alike residing mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa in countries that include but are not limited to Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Chad.”

    The question remains why? Http://www.mwlusa.org/topics/violence&harrassment/fgm.html is resounding in health practice “Some proponents of female circumcision argue that removing the clitoral hood (the anatomical equivalent of the foreskin of the penis) can enhance a woman's sexual experience which would not violate her rights to sexual fulfillment.

    By writer Mr. Alexander Simon with full foreskin that is Roman Catholic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The true history of the FBI
    “When Origins (1908-1910)

    The FBI originated from a force of special agents created in 1908 by Attorney General Charles Bonaparte during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. The two men first met when they both spoke at a meeting of the Baltimore Civil Service Reform Association;
    A Federal first hired Mr. ‘Ed’ Roan the Bureau lost no time to hire him!
    The reason was he was born in Maryland, D.C.
    A ‘reasonable’ honey then met the grand ‘Ed;’ filmed actress Ms Lucille Ball and invited big Ed into her famous L.A. Ballroom; with invited guests.

    Accordingly; Head Quarters of the FBI 100-40065; has office memorandum dated October 26, 1953 Edward Roan was her live-in; and a first hire for the FBI! Ms Ball was born in the same Year in 1911. The month is August of 6. The Unification Code conducted rare Investigation for “Ed;” first hire was dead on February 17, 1961; from mysterious circumstances!! The interest on a rare Member of the FBI never was taken for granted! The United States Government Memorandum a further insight! One was Ms Ball was accused of being a red communist as per the December 16, 1953 US memo. A Mr. William Adam Wheeler argued the subject has no dory and the Washington House held the First Amendment is enacting! Thus while the House on Un-American activities held hearings; the American Communist Party testified to State Committee Ms and Academy Performance lady was not a communist!! FBI special agent in-charge; Glen W. Willis; state removal of her (Ms Ball) name from the Security Index (as a suspect for being a communist)! Los Angeles dated December 1954 Communist Party USA of testimony. The head of the FBI was forwarded in Washington by Mr. J. Edgar Hoover. In official denial Ms Ball was again charged with red commie activity! The accusations grew more hot as a later write was forwarded to the FBI on September 10, 1968. Yet Ms Ball described a member not Democrat Fred Hunt as a communist. While investigation was needing a conviction; Ms Ball and famed Academy award actress; signed contracts for big budget films as well as TV series and never paid into a church nor an assembly paying at least 10% of her earnings to file legally to Uncle Sam on time!! Her son Desi Arnez filed a grievance. Mr. Arnez stated phonies were behind the scandal! In her Official Statement Ms Ball she was never a member nor asked to become a member of the USA commie assembly. Edward Roan retired from the FBI. In, his last days and lived common-in-law with Ms Ball; for 31 years despite the hype of Hollywood; he drifted into alcoholism. Ed left the famous Act; and entered for his “usual;” wine Californian.
    He was accosted by two ‘thugs.’ \
    He beat one apart; the “other;” kicked him in the head; and Ed FBI lost consciousness.
    The next day he died.











    ReplyDelete
  4. Why gas tanks are deadly!!
    In December 1988, EPA legislation asking owners to locate, remove, upgrade, or replace underground storage tanks became effective. Each state was given authority to establish such a program within its own jurisdiction, to compensate owners for the cleanup of underground petroleum leaks, to set standards and licensing for installers, and to register and inspect underground tanks.
    Simply filling in your motor vehicle is a something that can danger the motor; the tanks underneath leak poison! According to the above; “teels are alloys of iron and other elements, primarily carbon, widely used in construction and other applications because of their high tensile strengths and low costs. Carbon, other elements, and inclusions within iron act as hardening agents that prevent the movement of dislocations that otherwise occur in the crystal lattices of iron atoms.
    The carbon in typical steel alloys may contribute up to 2.1% of its weight. Varying the amount of alloying elements, their formation in the steel either as solute elements, or as precipitated phases, retards the movement of those dislocations that make iron comparatively ductile and weak, and thus controls qualities such as the hardness, ductility, and tensile strength of the resulting steel. Steel's strength compared to pure iron is only possible at the expense of ductility, of which iron has an excess.” Yet for Alberta Climate as example rust burns out and lattices into drinking wells. Gasoline burns clean and can open molecules that atomized during winter not to freeze and hold a time ticking! The reason is gas can freeze and cleaver chemists race a alcohol additive and rust the Iron further!! The leaks are there and race into drinking water and bathing as well again what is required is new form of rust proof casing as a hard core Plastic; that has a lead inert for cooling!! Stories do report the underground basin needs refinement “A fuel tank that blew up in a suburban New York backyard, killing two labourers, likely held gasoline rather than heating oil, which is much less explosive, police said Friday.
    Hastings-on-Hudson police issued a statement saying hazardous materials experts detected what they believed was the odour of gasoline at the scene of Thursday’s explosion.” http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-news/fuel-tank-that-exploded-killing-2-workers-may-have-held-gasoline-police-chief-says/ and Marianne Lamont Horinko Assistant Administrator Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response; is agreement that “gasoline tanks gained the national spotlight when 60 Minutes released its investigative report, “Check the Water”. That report revealed other neighbors in Canob Park were in the same situation – gasoline leaking from underground storage tanks was contaminating their drinking water.” Here Senator David Durenberger, Minnesota Introduced UST legislation in the U. S. Senate in cooperation with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a comprehensive regulatory program for underground storage tanks (USTs) certain hazardous substances promulgate new underground storage tank regulations; including new Plans from Alberta.
    Meanwhile rust continues underneath the “pumping stations;” and the leak is heading to your cup of coffee ….!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Why gas tanks are deadly!!
    In December 1988, EPA legislation asking owners to locate, remove, upgrade, or replace underground storage tanks became effective. Each state was given authority to establish such a program within its own jurisdiction, to compensate owners for the cleanup of underground petroleum leaks, to set standards and licensing for installers, and to register and inspect underground tanks.
    Simply filling in your motor vehicle is a something that can danger the motor; the tanks underneath leak poison! According to the above; “teels are alloys of iron and other elements, primarily carbon, widely used in construction and other applications because of their high tensile strengths and low costs. Carbon, other elements, and inclusions within iron act as hardening agents that prevent the movement of dislocations that otherwise occur in the crystal lattices of iron atoms.
    The carbon in typical steel alloys may contribute up to 2.1% of its weight. Varying the amount of alloying elements, their formation in the steel either as solute elements, or as precipitated phases, retards the movement of those dislocations that make iron comparatively ductile and weak, and thus controls qualities such as the hardness, ductility, and tensile strength of the resulting steel. Steel's strength compared to pure iron is only possible at the expense of ductility, of which iron has an excess.” Yet for Alberta Climate as example rust burns out and lattices into drinking wells. Gasoline burns clean and can open molecules that atomized during winter not to freeze and hold a time ticking! The reason is gas can freeze and cleaver chemists race a alcohol additive and rust the Iron further!! The leaks are there and race into drinking water and bathing as well again what is required is new form of rust proof casing as a hard core Plastic; that has a lead inert for cooling!! Stories do report the underground basin needs refinement “A fuel tank that blew up in a suburban New York backyard, killing two labourers, likely held gasoline rather than heating oil, which is much less explosive, police said Friday.
    Hastings-on-Hudson police issued a statement saying hazardous materials experts detected what they believed was the odour of gasoline at the scene of Thursday’s explosion.” http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-news/fuel-tank-that-exploded-killing-2-workers-may-have-held-gasoline-police-chief-says/ and Marianne Lamont Horinko Assistant Administrator Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response; is agreement that “gasoline tanks gained the national spotlight when 60 Minutes released its investigative report, “Check the Water”. That report revealed other neighbors in Canob Park were in the same situation – gasoline leaking from underground storage tanks was contaminating their drinking water.” Here Senator David Durenberger, Minnesota Introduced UST legislation in the U. S. Senate in cooperation with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a comprehensive regulatory program for underground storage tanks (USTs) certain hazardous substances promulgate new underground storage tank regulations; including new Plans from Alberta.
    Meanwhile rust continues underneath the “pumping stations;” and the leak is heading to your cup of coffee ….!

    ReplyDelete
  6. FIGHT FOR YOUR NATION!!
    INSCRIPTION: DIE A HERO AND NOT A COWARD;
    Hey all men and women is it World War 4?
    Well all Nations will in script you for Our Nation’
    So Fight ready the Country you love needs a
    Man and women who really cares for Nation!!

    We are battle ready and very mad for love of
    Mother and our girl and boy raising hell too!!
    So fight damn well and win for Our Nation!!

    Let’s set our MD Military and smile as we
    Are screened for not lousy dirt,
    And as we smile strong and blue cool.
    We will see mother and father alive!!
    By a Warrior writer Alexander Simon

    I foresee that on October 17, 2017 WW4
    Will occur.
    By Writer Alexander Simon
    Roman Catholic!!!!

    ReplyDelete