Trashorbit

Russell is an artist and writer who lives and works in Los Angeles. He publishes Bedwetter magazine and has spoken about his work at a number of universities and art colleges. His writings have appeared in Small Doggies, Art US, Instant City, and Homeless Ideas. An independent film, Letter to Faye, was based on one of his stories. Christopher’s visual work has appeared in several American and European exhibitions, including solo shows at the Van Harrison Gallery in Chicago and Acuna Hanson in Los Angeles. He was included in the Harper Collins photo book, Voyeur and has been collected by the RISD Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
 

“He caught a quick glance of a white flutter at the
attic window, a sheer curtain borne on a sudden rage
of air. He ducked, startled, tucked his head and
stared at water-stained corrugated boxes: Christmas or
kitchen. He didn’t see her so much as he understood
her features, they just came to mind: the glassy grey
skin of her face sucked tightly around a decaying
musculature. And when he was ready to rise, to
confront tormenting eyes, there were no curtains or
window, just the dismal frame of the family home. ”

I ran into Christopher Saturday night and remembered what an amazing and encouraging person he is. So I decided to check out his website which looks great.

http://www.thechristopherrussellarchive.com/

Here is some of his work that I picked out of is galleries…

 Jon Raymond was responsible for getting my first stories published in Tin House Magazine where he was working as an editor in 2002. He practically re-wrote the entire story for me and if it wasn’t for him I never would have finished my first book. So finally I got around to reading his first novel “The Half Life”. My bad for taking so long. Sorry Jon. This is an amazing debut novel with one of the sweetest characters I’ve ever known. I will post my  full Amazon review below. Let me just say here that Jonathon is a truly genius American writer and “The Half Life” is a hauntingly beautiful and lush novel in character, setting and plot. I’ve been thinking about it for weeks now…

The Half Life 

This novel is so rich and so full of beauty I don’t even know where to begin. I’ll start by saying that Raymond has mastered the English language. I found myself reading and re-reading the same line over and over again sometimes not being able to continue the book until the poetry of a certain line would sink in. Raymond uses even the simplest phrases in the most elegant ways and I found myself recalling his exact words days and even weeks after reading them.

OK, three words… location, location, location! Raymond uses such incredibly beautiful descriptions. The setting comes alive in this novel like no other book I’ve ever read. As a reader you feel it, you hear it, you smell it and you taste it as if you’re there. I am in awe that this is a debut novel. After reading the first few chapters I had to look Raymond up to see if he wasn’t some famous naturalist. I felt as if I was reading the journal of an early scientist exploring the Northwest Territory. It seems that Mr. Raymond knows every bird, plant, weed and stone in Oregon by name and yet he describes them to the reader in almost childlike simplicity. My theory has always been that if someone really knows something well, then they can describe it and make it understood even to a child. To me, Raymond knows Oregon like the back of his hand and I used to live there. They should make this novel mandatory reading for all Pacific Northwesterners so they can appreciate the beauty and the mystery of the region.

Then there’s the cooking… Did you ever see the movie “Like Water for Chocolate”? I felt like I was reading a written sequel. I must have gained five pounds just reading it. The cooking scenes are fantastic and made my mouth water and my eyes burn.

Besides all that, the novel is haunting. I have no idea what the reviewers below are talking about by “lack of character development”. Did we read the same book? Did you get through the first two pages or did your short little attention span get the better of you again? This novel is packed full of the most incredible characters. Simple, yet profound Neil, volatile Trixie Voltera, Tina the lost girl, the young romantic dreamer Henry, the serious and mysterious King Lu and Cookie! What about Cookie? Seriously, were you reading the same book as me? Cookie is the first time since reading “Giovann’s Room” that I absolutely fell in love with a character! This is possibly the gentlest and most Zen character ever written!

OK, then the ending. First let me say that I love David Mitchell, but I get down on him for always wrapping his books into neat little packages in the end. Sorry David, but that’s not doing it for me. Life is complex and so is “The Half Life”. It always seems to me like Mitchell is trying to be Murakami in a way but with happy endings. Raymond perfectly captures the complexities of life and the struggle we all share for closeness and contact but to me it appears as if he wasn’t even trying which is a sure sign that he was. The book and the ending definitely have a Eastern feel which brings Murakami to mind but the comparisons stop there. “The Half Life” is to me a completely unique book which stands by itself. Raymond fuses what must be an incredibly diverse background in history, natural sciences, English, film making and a little partying in the Northwest with a deceptively simple style and the heart of a poet and naturalist.

If you like:
Murakami
David Mitchell
Thoreau
James Baldwin
Jack London
Jared Diamond
Nature
Film Making
or if you live in the Pacific Northwest or if you like incredibly rich love stories that aren’t what they appear,
THEN BUY THIS BOOK!

Who’s listening to him?

Them…

It’s true. I know you know that a lot of white dudes love so called “Gangsta Rap’, but did you know they account for 75% of total record sales. And why…

“White America has always had a perverse fascination with the idea of black males as violent and sexually insatiable animals. A prime source of racism’s emotional energy was an obsession with protecting white women from black brutes. Since the days of Birth of a Nation up through Native Son and now with gangsta rap, whites have always been loyal patrons of such imagery, drawn to the visceral fear factor and antisocial fantasies generated by black men. Less appreciated is the extent to which African Americans have bought into this idea. At least since the era of blaxploitation, the African American male has taken pride in his depiction as the quintessential man in the black hat. It is a desperate gambit by a group deprived of real power—even on our worst days, we can still scare the shit of white suburbanites.”

That was taken from an article here by  Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Frankly the first picture of the frat boy assholes is incredibly offensive. Wha’ts more offensive is that my white friends have been teasing me for years for listening to so called “white guy rap” like Tribe called Quest, De la  Soul, Del La Funky Homosapiens etc…

They all need to check out the “Independent Lens” documentary “Hip Hop: Beyond Beats & Rymes” by Byron Hurt. His film expores the myths behind hip hop and you can listen to Chuck D. tell you how much he digs De La Soul. So fuck you cracker!

This is where hip hop started in case you thought Eminem was the founder.

Check out a brief bio and some lyrics here.