--
San Francisco // 1996


Heyhowyadoin'

my name'z jack.

i found your name and address in controversy magazine or uptown or some place else.

and, i want you to know i'm writing to you for a specific reazon.

i keep up pretty well, you know, i read a lot of magazinez, i buy the latest releasez, i cruize the ecnirp networks online, although, i must admit, what i learn from theze magazinez and collectorz worldwide iz just how much information i really don't know and don't have and how much catching up i still have to do. i’ve had a few obstaclez in my way, you see, plus, some people have access to so much more information than i do, that at timez it seemz futile.

that kid iz one hard-working mudda-fudda.

but, i just keep going.

then there'z all them crazy boots that are floating around by the hundredz. totally cool album coverz on them boots. some people out there are doing some damn good work and i'm sure the kid'z proud...or, maybe he spits & pissez on them with rubbing alcohol. who knowz. probably the latter.

i want you to know i’m writing to you for a specific reazon.

so, i’ve got pretty much everything i'm supposed to, i mean, in order to keep in the running, plus some gemz, but, you know, i can’t compete or compare with any of those big-time collectorz' obsezzive muddaz, they are. it's just that feeling, you know. that feeling that you understand where he'z coming from.

my name is jack.

i have dubbed myself the artistic director and commander-in-chief of a theatre project called: the time Navigation troupe' a nomadic theatre organization dedicated to changing the process of theatre, from conception to audition to production, through the underworld.

my showz are influenced by the works of: Robert Wilson, Beckett, Shepard, Carol Churchill, Native American Literature, Mad Magazine, Hanna-Barbara, The Muppets, William Snakespit, Robert Zimmerman, Prince, Marx Brotherz, Chaplin, Flintstonez, Rod Serling, LaMaMa D'Umbria, Kafka, Bugz Bunny, Chinaski and a bunch of other stuff.

my thoughts are my own, my art is my own' developed over time, after many experiencez and continuous travel.

my main focus and inspiration, however, i must admit, is most directly connected to the works and compositionz of one prince rogerz nelson, prince, ecnirp, his royal badness, the male/female/music/screw-with-the-media-for-your-35th-birthday/break the contract/no name necessary/not victor/TAFKAP, O+>', symbol, squiggly, skippy, squirmy, new spiritual revolution...THE artist, whatever...it's all good.

i want you to know i'm writing to you for a specific reazon.

the works of the artist fuel my creative thoughts by turning my brain down two side-streets, left and right simultaneously...like the dueling guitars in joy in repetition...like U.

i sometimez feel i am a musician who cannot actually play a musical instrument. therefore, i use HIM as an instrument. i play him as one would play a lute, to spark my creativity and imagination. he makes the music i would make, if i could make the music he makes (sometimez i even dream of prince lyrics that do not exist...lord help me...but, then again, so do you, maybe).

the music is the thing.

Eileen Murton, the ex-editor-in-chief of Controversy Magazine (r.i.p.), once wrote in an editorial:

"I get a bit tired of being automatically classed as a dingbat, because I like Prince — usually by those who've never seen him perform — and it's smashing when well-known, established figures, especially media folk, end up coughing and spluttering, trying desperately to piece a sentence together after they've seen the Man in action." (Controversy, #43, oct/nov 1993).

i'm assuming that by having your name and/or email address listed in controversy or uptown, or wherever i got it, you may feel the same way Emily doez, the same way i do, the same way thousandz upon thousandz of boyz & girlz do.

i'm filtering, mind you, from thoze who say "oooh...i love prince!!...i LOVED purple rain...i have all hiz albumz...right up to sign o' the timez....what was his last album again...?”

and i’m staying away from thoze who say: "prince? yeah he'z great, but he hazn't put out a good album since sign o' the timez..."

or, thoze who say: "prince? yeah, he'z alright...i liked his old stuff, but he'z not really doing much now...."

yeah, right, buddy.

if you don't know why prince is that skinny mudda-fudda with the high-pitched voice, then go jump in a mud puddle.

i'm not saying praize the man as a musical messiah (almost) and i’m not saying live and die for the man (maybe). i don’t even know what prince had for breakfast after his late night spontaneous surprise all-night monster-funk-jazz-jam in some underground warehouse in berlin or something...

i'm just saying, whether you write for strolling bone magazine, or if you've come to think that you "understand" yet, you're still writing letterz to uptown and other ‘zinez to take the time to critique a track or an album, then i suggest you go rub your face against a plate glass window, 'cauze, you must realize, if you didn't like a certain track on a certain album...you gotta give it 7 yearz before you can touch it, ‘cause it's way ahead of its time and you gotta give yourself time to catch up to it, buddy...pal.

you know what i'm sayin'?

i can't stand negative judgement of anybody’z work. probably because i despize, abhor and detest critixs. maybe becauze i'm a theatre artist myself. maybe because i'm a writer. maybe it's because "i am an artist, and my only aim is to please." i don’t know. i have a simple theory, really...it's part of the time Navigation troupe's manifesto, actually.

from me: the question iz this: why would you take the time and energy to write about something you didn't like when you could write about something you DID like, for pete’s sake. if you didn't like it, then don't write about it, dummy. be more productive with your own work. it seemz so simple.

i would rather acknowledge and admire work as just that: hard work, and ask:

"HOW MANY KILLER, FUNKY, SMOOTH, BAD, JUMPIN', JAMMIN', SLAMMIN' SWEET TALKIN', SQUALKIN', CRYIN', SIGHIN', HEAVY-BREATHIN', PUMPIN', GRINDIN' SONGZ CAN ONE LITTLE-BIG-MAN HAVE INSIDE OF HIM?"

that's all i want to know.

so...now about me:

my name is jack.

and, I want you to know I'm writing to you for a speciic reazon.

i used to own & operate a performance café in portland, oregon, located in the top left corner of the u.s., for 2 yearz. i'm actually from san francisco, but during an eight year stint in portland, then abroad in italy, i somehow found myself involved with juggling a theatre/cafe, called: THE REQUIEM SHARK PERFORMANCE CAFE.

it was quite a venture.

it was a cafe,
gallery,
bookstore,
record store,
t-shirt shed,
under-ground comix shop,
chess battle-ground,
large-screen video & film cinema,
noize-dungeon,
punk hang-out,
youth hostel,
dance studio,
drug re-hab center,
music-loverz dream

and a huge 5,ooo sq. ft. warehouse, which i converted into an active theatre, where i, as the time Navigation troupe, with the help of many amazing and intriguing volunteerz, produced over 100 showz and eventz over a period of two yearz, until we finally shut down:

i couldn't do the showz i wanted to do, because we couldn't be loud. we weren't coded. we weren't professional. just a bunch of punk kidz trying to put on a show. there were problemz with the business partnerz, of course, and with the land-lord, plus an air of gloom and violence eventually hovered over the café's roof. over a grueling period of about eight months, our productive, innovative system was sabotaged...and on the morning of august 27th, 1993, i rolled out of bed at 5 a.m., jumped into the back of a friend’z pickup truck and jammed prince mixez for 17 hours until we hit san francisco.

it waz like returning home after a war.

with the time Navigation troupe within me, in my heart & soul, i had a long way 2 go...

i spent 5 months sleeping on floorz and bussing tablez (claire fisher string arrangements inserted in the background, please...), while my belongingz, which included 72 piecez of prince vinyl, a turn-table and 2 tiny bose speakerz, sat in a small warehouse across town, waiting for me to catch up with the world...

Five years later now, i have a sweet crib, 3x more vinyl, VHS tapes, CD's and cassettes and a Mac system to pay the bills and then some, not to mention, a kooky love affair with a hot thing who's got that look.

the time Navigation troupe is currently head-quartered online, connected to many other projects' muzic projects, literature projects, dezign projects, buziness possibilitiez and helping people out who don't necessarily have the resourcez to help themselvez accomplish whatever it iz that needz to be accomplished in their livez. been there. needed help. now, returning the favor.

i want you to know i'm writing to you for a specific reazon...and this iz the reazon:

One of the goalz of the time Navigation troupe, is to be nationally and internationally networked in order to travel and perform our showz, which are written and directed by myself and usually involve from 3 to 30 people or more or less.

to do this, it’s necessary to communicate and network through the internet, or by fax, or through the postal system, e-mail, sky-writing, flag-waving, secret whistlez, hand-shakes, war-drumz, smoke-signalz, morse-code, telegram, aerogram or telephone, notes passed behind backs, under desks, from hand-to-hand, from cell-block-to-cell-block, or through the employment of an enigma machine.

as i brain-storm, i find it nearly impossible to avoid the thought of writing a letter to everyone hard-wired into controversy and/or uptown magazine and/or other web sites associated with the children of the sun who have made their prezence known for correspondence, and then, somehow, connect the correspondence to my project.

I have maps on my wallz, i'm computer equipped and i’m braver than my fearz.

i’d like to include you into our project: as actor, dancer, artistic contributor, helper or friend.

there are folks out there, as i said, who are far more versed in the information department in regardz to prince than i may ever be. it’s frustrating at timez, but each of us have a different reazon to trip (this is not music).

i've got theze maps. of california. the states. europe. asia. and the world. And, i'm sending you this letter. If you respond, and tell me you understand, and scribe some brilliance, or send a tape or a photo or your voice or a sketch or a video or something, i will place a pin on the map where you are and i will send you an official time Navigation troupe membership card (see attached), our manifesto and a treat.

who knowz, maybe someday you & i will listen to some beautiful music together...

thanks for your time.

you’re so nice.

stay hungry.

What's my name?



1. Songz dreampt
that don’t really exist:

i) Racer X
ii) Robin Hood



2. Question i would ask O+> over cereal at midnight:
“Have you ever been expozed to the visual world of the School of Byrdz?”



3. Prince's new name: the future.


...and it will be...


TREEHOUSE
http://www.FirstFifteen.com

will c u on the other side
[Edited 12/23/09 11:23am]

DWZ said:

...Ever do tales about dimensional lovers?...

Dimensional Lovers. Funny you should ask. In 2004, I wrote, produced, and directed a multilinear stage play entitled: [DIMENSION]. This was a story in four dimensions: star-crossed lovers, double-crossed time-schemes, and missed opportunity. Ultimately, it was a story about dimensional lovers...I'd say.

By the accuracy of your question, I'm led to think you already knew this...(?).

Thanks for the sweet words and vote of confidence.

JW -

will c u on the other side
[Edited 12/23/09 11:24am]

>

Interesting. I'd like to view a whisper of something like so...as such.

You say you N/joy'd the Tree. Does this mean you downloaded the free first Appisode? Or, viewed on the accompanied website?

Re: [Dimension], I am currently in the process of digitizing clips, albeit, busy-daze block The Flow. All in due time/All in due time. For other links of projects you might like, try these:

http://bit.ly/5WKy2K
http://bit.ly/8nsakH
http://bit.ly/8rouNF

Digitally yerz,

JW -