Friday, November 11, 2011

Response to "Lori"

1 comments:


Lori said...
I am a teacher and want to recreate a beatnik coffee house. Any suggestions what I can do?

Guest Posters Welcomed!

If you have any ideas for articles to showcase on this blog, please do not hesitate to contact me about them. I just received a kind letter from one of the followers here, and it inspired me to extend the invitation to you all.

I'm pretty much tapped for ideas lately, so your efforts will greatly help keep this blog going. Thanks in advance to all who decide to respond.

Contact me through my email:  beatnik@mail2cool.com.

GINSBERG AND GELEK

Allen Ginsberg became fast friends with a Tibetan Tulku named Gelek Rinpoche (Rim-po-shay). Tulku signifies that Gelek is a reincarnated holy man, the late abbot of an important monastery in Tibet. It was this man who tended to Allen as he lay dying of liver cancer. The extraordinary relationship between the two is best illustrated by this article excerpted from The Allen Ginsberg Project: An Allen Ginsberg Gallimaufry blog:

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Gelek Rinpoche's Birthday! 

Gelek and Allen and Jewel Heart - Jon Kain in his piece for the Shambhala Sun, some years back, "Gelek Rinpoche's Remarkable Journey", notes "They [Gelek and Allen] met in the early 1990's, forming a fast friendship. Allen eventually became Gelek Rinpoche's student, with Rinpoche performing the ritual at Allen's death. "Allen never missed the opportunity to teach me about American culture and language, Rinpoche told me", (Kain recounts), "He pushed me all the time. He was really so kind. And then what little dharma I know I contributed to him".

Mutual respect. It was (always) sincere mutual respect, (notwithstanding the teacher-pupil relationship(s), notwithstanding Rinpoche's charming, disarming, modesty).

"I've had a very good life, especially great luck with teachers particularly Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and now Gelek Rinpoche. Both have great hearts. So there's a basic security to all that".

Friday, May 6, 2011

Murray the K - In Memoriam

If you remember "Submarine Race Watching", you remember the DJ Murray Kaufman, other wise known as "Murray the K". Murray ruled the airwaves of New York City and the surrounding areas from 1958 to 1967. I remember being a regular listener of his WINS radio show "Murray the K and His Swingin' Soiree"  http://www.1960sailors.net/05b_Murray_the_K.htm  (scroll down the page for audio clips!).

and hearing The Submarine Race Watcher mantra at regular intervals.


I also remember him as the self-proclaimed "Fifth Beatle". It was some time after this Beatle phase that I gradually lost touch with him and his show. I totally agree with those that felt he was sucking up to the Fab Four way too much. If one of them stopped, Murray needed vitamin K to stop his nose from bleeding.
Here are two videos covering this topic:
                                                                                  
                            

                            
                               [That's British Slang for "Jerkoff"; wanking means beatin off!]

Like the singer Shirley Ellis in her song, The Name Game, Murray invented his own language. This entailed taking the first letter of a word and inserting "eee-azz" between it and the rest of the word. Baby for example became b "eee-azz" aby. His own name Murray wound up to sound like M "eee-azz" urray. That was real cool for that time period. When all was said and done, he kept hipster talk and its protoype "scat" alive beyond the 1940's and '50's. He was sort of an Uber-beatnik in many ways.

"Ah bey, whoa.
Ah bey, whoa.
Koomazowazowa!
Whoa!"

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

TROMA Productions: As The Beatniks Grew Older ...

"Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974.[1]
The company produces low-budget independent movies that play on 1950s horror with elements of farce. Many Troma films contain social commentary."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troma_Entertainment

Here are two of their classic films:
                                                            SURF NAZIS MUST DIE!


                                                                   And  then there's...

                                                             THE TOXIC AVENGER

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Remember "Long John Nebel" and His Overnight Radio Show?

Jackie Gleason was a fan of his and a frequent guest on his show.

Like so many others from The Beat Era, Long John's show was the pioneering prototype for future ones, such as Art Bell. Here are some samples of the original controversial call-in radio talk show. The first two
feature his fights with prank callers. The third is a sample of a typical Long John Nebel interview.





Monday, March 28, 2011

Dig It! The Beatnik Coffee House Website.

This is your one-stop shop for all things beatnik. A most fortuitous find, if I do say so myself. Enjoy!

Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore: 
Beatnik Coffeehouse
                                    

Beat Authors Non-Fiction
Audio Tapes
Movies & Videos
Beat Links
Zen-ness Dept.
Beverage Dept.





Thursday, February 10, 2011

Beatnik Musical Metamorphosis (From 1964 to the Present):

More proof that beatniks were the prototype for hippies.



                            

                    

Saturday, February 5, 2011

GANG OF SOULS - A GENERATION OF BEAT POETS (DVD)

Documentary exploring the insights and influences of the American Beat Poets featuring interviews with Burroughs, Ginsberg, Di Prima + more.

Available at Amazon.com for either purchase or rental. Click the following link to the Amazon website and then click the "play free preview" button located at the bottom. Note the funny typo concerning the release date LOL!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031YW3WA/ref=atv_feed_catalog&tag=imdb-amazonvideo-20

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Ernie Kovacs - Genius Comic of the Beat Generation

Who can forget "The Nairobi Trio?"


How about the "Mack the Knife" segments?

                                        
And one of my favorite characters, poet laureate "Percy Dovetonsils" ...