Turn On, Tune In

.Images from Richard Prince's rare book shop and publishing house Fulton Ryder.

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Cat Whisperer

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Frank Stefanko, The Lookout, 1974.

As if there weren't already enough reasons to love Patti Smith.



(Clip from the 2008 documentary Patti Smith: Dream of Life.)

via AnOther.

While we're on the topic, I just started reading this; a birthday present from one of my homegirls:

BÖC

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Blue Oyster Cult "Burnin' For You" from Fire of Unknown Origin (1981, Columbia)

Admit you love it

Maria Callas & Mick Jagger

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In honor of Patti Smith (today is notable for her in that it was Robert Mapplethorpe's birthday, and also the day her husband, Fred Sonic Smith, died), The Stranger posted this video of her appearance on an early-'80s show I had completely forgotten about, Kids Are People Too.

1. I remain in total awe of Patti Smith.

2. Not to bring the room down or anything, but damn, mainstream society has become so conservative that with a few notable exceptions, it seems almost inconceivable that a kids' show today would have Patti Smith as a guest.

Also Kurt

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Patti Smith "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

Just a reminder, in case you haven't yet been, that there's two weeks left to see Kurt, the exhibition of Kurt Cobain-inspired art at the Seattle Art Museum. (I wish I had time to write a more thought-out review, but in lieu of that, I will just say that I think it's an important show for SAM and overall an excellent collection of work that should not be missed. There are pieces and themes in the show that I have thought about a lot since seeing it.)

Deal Straight, Crazy Eight

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Amelia Earhart. No particular reason, just general chicness to start the week. Now hear this: Patti Smith Amelia Earhart mp3 (via UbuWeb – poetry reading at St. Mark's Church, NYC, December 25, 1971).

We are Pinocchio over and over again

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Patti Smith. Photography Robert Mapplethorpe

Patti Smith was back in her (and our) old neighborhood in Brooklyn the other day, giving a commencement address to the graduating class at Pratt. It's not "I have a dream" or "Ask not" or even "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine" – but because I'm pretty much a fan of everything Patti Smith does or says, and on some level find her very existence inspiring, here it is in full:

Well, I've been thinking of you all for the past few weeks. I've been thinking about what I'd like to talk about: Moby Dick, the slaves of Michelangelo, Hans Hoffman, My Bloody Valentine...but now that I'm here, my greatest urge is speak to you of dental care. My generation had a rough go, dentally. Our dentists were the army dentists who came back from World War II, and believed that the dental office was a battleground. You have a better chance at dental health, and I say this because you want at night to be pacing the floor because your muse is burning inside of you, because you want to do your work, because you want to finish that canvas, because you want to make that design, because you want to help your fellow man. You don't want to be pacing because you need a damn root canal.

Inspiration, Imagination, Discipline

. "...or go to the ocean. And drink coffee."

Last night my mom, Emily and I went to see Patti Smith play a few songs and read from her new memoir Just Kids. It was great, the most inspiring thing I have witnessed for a long time. I'm too swamped to write much about it right now but just wanted to mention it, and to post a link to a very good recent interview with her on Fresh Air.

Photo by Angelo Cricchi from pattismith.net