“It still amazes me how many millions goes to discovering another star in the galaxies when, for all we know, we are still sitting on top of another undiscovered world beneath out feet.”
- Martin Dansky
I have a complex relationship with cities. Growing up in a small rural town in Victoria, Australia the city, in this case Melbourne, was something big full of adventure in the distance horizon. On the other hand living in a city I find the noise, the volume of people overwhelming at times. Place me in the bush, surrounded by nothing but trees and the sounds/silence of it and I’ll feel at ease; place me on a busy street of a city and I feel myself shrinking into myself, retreating.
As a young man in my early 20’s, now living in Melbourne, I discovered urban exploration. In those drains, under those bridges, in those abandoned carparks, I found that silence. Lately,-partly out of inspiration for an idea brewing in my mind, partly out of reflection on graduating on a teacher and the responsibility that working in that field brings with it- I’ve been reflecting back on this period.
The following is a compilation of that reflection and research, starting with the local and moving to the global.
Cave Clan
The Cave Clan is an Australian urban exploration group that begun in 1986. The major branches are in Melbourne and Sydney although there is exploration in most major cities of Australia. It was through the Cave Clan that I got into urban exploration. A friend and myself met them outside the
Although the major exploration group exploration has been going on for longer then the Cave Clan has existed. On a number of occasions whilst exploring I have spotted graffiti dating from the 1960’s. So its fair to say that whilst Cave Clan has been around since the mid 80’s urban exploration in the drains of Melbourne has been around longer.
Personal Experiences (words)
Melbourne Underground
On the surface Melbourne is a lively metropolis, but you have to wonder what lurks beneath this city. When typical tourists enter the city of Melbourne, known for its culture, art and spectacular gardens, they are unaware of the fact that like most other large urban cities, there is a vast network of underground tunnels, drains and cavities, twisting and turning in all directions under the busy streets. A different world exists beneath the feet of those who walk the streets of the city and, like the tourists, most Melbournians who live on the surface on the streets are also completely oblivious to this underground drainage system and unused old spaces. What is not seen is often ignored. But this extensive network of stormwater drains and cavities capture the essence of cramped, dark and damp interiors that can be explored and discovered by anyone who dares to enter this underground world. read the rest here.
Ghost Platforms
Travelling on the escalators that lead down to platforms 24 and 25 at Central station, I always look out for the ghost platforms. They are visible in glimpses through the gaps in the striped panels that enclosed the escalators, but only for a moment, as the escalators keeps moving onwards, down to the Bondi Junction line, or up to the ticket gates.
While thousands of people pass by them every day, the majority without knowledge of their existence, the ghost platforms remain still and undisturbed. What is mostly visible from the gaps in the panels are the station’s lights, which continue to shine even though the platforms are unused read the rest here.
How do I find explorable drains?
To find drains you can use a number of methods, all of which are suited to different areas.
1) Get a topological map. Likely drains are where there are gullies but no evidence of a river per se; deduction: it has been buried (turned into a drain tunnel) or its headwaters have been `pirated'(diverted) to another river or into a drain further upstream. Melb Clan found Gobledox this way.
2) Obtain old street directories and compare them to their newer editions. Generally you find that when a creek shown in an old directory is no longer shown in a new edition, chances are that it has been entunneled. Also if you see a creek going along and suddenly disappearing, then reappearing somewhere else, you know pretty well what happened to it in between. I found the entrance to a whopping drain in Brisbane by looking in the Gregory's for wide creeks which disappeared adjacent to roads.
3) Check boundaries on cadastral maps. Back in the good ol' daze, postcode boundaries were often delineated by prominent geographic features, like cliffs, rivers and the like. Thus you can look in street directories or maps of who-owns-what (cadastral maps) and occasionally see non-linear, erratic-looking postcode boundaries. Odds on it is where there once was a river. This is how The Loaf was located. read the rest here.)
Into the warren (photo gallery)
Melbourne
Hobart
Fremantle
She Becons: Brisbane
Sydney
Light Painted Tunnels
Around the World
Sleepycity: demolition of paris metro
Over the next few years we were enslaved like only those who grew up in a city deprived of metro could be. Week in week our we hit the tunnels, scouring our maps and coming up in the early hours smeared from head to toe in that thick black dust which never fully washes from your clothes. I would wake the morning after with that distinctive smell still hovering in my nostrils, for imbued was it into the fabric of all my clothes, my sheets and my hair. The thick slabs of scunge under our fingernails was like a badge of honour, the black tinge in the folds between thumb and index finger which never faded a symbol of dedication. The symptoms pervaded our appearance, our speech and our dreams. To us the system was an open slate ripe with possibilities. We could only oblige by beginning to dismantle it piece by piece….
Arsenal, Champ de Mars
The stations Arsenal and Champ de Mars are the easiest to visit as they can be reached from the topside so they're as good a place to begin as any. While situated at opposite sides of the city these two stations share a similar story. They were closed on the same day, 2nd September 1939, when the metro employees were recruited to join the war effort. Read the rest here.
Vanishing Point: Canadian exploration
At their root, most drains are just an abstract version of the watershed that existed before the city. It’s sort of this alternate dimension that you pass into, when you step from the aboveground creek, through the inlet, into the drain – especially once you walk out of the reach of daylight.
Even sanitary sewers often follow the paths of existing or former watersheds, because the grade of the land is already ideal for water flow – fast enough, but not so fast that it erodes the pipe prematurely – and because the floodplains are often unsuitable for other uses.
BLDGBLOG: How does that affect your attitude toward this, though? Do you find yourself wishing that all these drains could be dismantled, letting the natural landscape return – or, because these sites are so interesting to explore, do you actually wish that there were more of them?
Michael Cook: It’s an awful toll that we’ve taken on the landscape – I’m not one to celebrate all this concrete. If it were conceivable to set it all right, I’d be the first one in line to support that. And the marginal progress being made in terms of environmental engineering – building storm water management alternatives to burial and to large, expensive pipes – is a great step forward; unfortunately, its success so far has been limited.
Ultimately, you just can’t change the fact that we’ve urbanized, and we continue to do so. That comes with a cost that can be managed – but it can’t be eliminated completely.
Read the rest of the interview here or visit the vanishing point website
Under city: Steve Duncan new york explorations
The hole I was digging was about three feet deep and halfway under the wall when I ran into a tarpaulin imbedded in the dirt. It caught at my shovel strangely, and I couldn’t tell what I’d run into in the nighttime darkness until I took out my flashlight. I knelt down next to the hole to see.
The beam of my flashlight showed the dirty blue plastic and then, as I prodded it with the shovel, I saw a half-rotten shoe sticking out of the worm-infested folds. A dead body. The idea filled my mind with a sudden wave of revulsion and horror. For a moment I couldn’t move. Then I reached out and slowly pulled on a corner of the tarp. The shoe tumbled out, attached to nothing, and behind it there was only dirt.
I let out a breath… read more here and check out some photos here.
The Post Office Railway
I had the same experience with the exploration of sewers. Back in 2005 I would crawl on my hands and knees squeezing my way up a 3ft, never-ending concrete pipes only to find a dead end or smaller tunnel, but I enjoyed it, going back for more week after week. Yet after discovering some of the Victorian lost rivers and storm drains, this once enjoyable activity instantly lost its appeal, in fact it became frustrating. I could do this now anyway because I’m fatter then I was six years ago and no longer fit in said 3ft pipes, but now I don’t even consider them an option or viable route. I guess I became a ”Sewer Snob”, if there is such a term, spoilt by bigger and better things. In fact it’s been the same across the entire board of exploration. Asylums, mills, bunkers, forts, all things I once enjoyed with equal passion, now nothing more then a space to kill some time. But then there was always Mail Rail, lurking in the background. Read the rest here.
Felix Nadar and the Paris Sewers
It’s not often that our explorations are more connected to people than places. However, on a recent trip into the Paris sewer system, we were chasing the ghost of the Parisian eccentric and urban photographer Félix Nadar. For urban explorers in London and Paris, the period between 1850 and 1870, when Nadar was doing his work, is a crucial one. During that time, both of the drain networks were built to the rough configuration in which they remain. This period was pwned by urban planners and engineers like Bazalgette and Haussmann; it was a time of radical urban reconfiguration. Nadar was fascinated by the changes and spent a great deal of time photographing the Paris catacombs and sewers (and taking aerial and erotic photos, but that’s another story), leading many urban explorers to think of Nadar, and his contemporary John Hollingshead in London, as the first drainers. The name Félix Nadar was even a pseudonym – clearly Nadar was part of our crew! Read more on Felix Nadar and the history of paris sewers here and here.
And some of his photos:
A short world gallery
Canada
France
England
Balkans
Videos
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p.s. Hey. If you're like me, and probably even if you aren't like me, this weekend's Paradigm-created and -hosted post is what oohs and ahhs are made of. Please join me in wishing I had a very strong flashlight and the city's underworld at my fingertips. Thank you ever so much, Paradigm! ** Misanthrope, The thing with ferris wheels, in my experience, is that when you look up at them and imagine yourself at the top, what you imagine looking down on is much further away than what you actually look down on when you're up there, which is kind of part of the genius thing about them, I guess? Assuming you made it home safely yesterday, and that today is some kind of day off, stay warm. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Your ferris wheel fantasy sounds like one of those conceptually perfect ideas wherein time gets to be elongated and circumstances idealized, sort of like the slaves' fantasies, come to think of it. I've seen 'Kwaidan', yeah, but a long time ago. I think it was pretty great? I can't remember. Cool about the book about to go to market, but, yeah, don't think about it, and I'll try not to make you think about it by asking incessantly, if I can. Working on the novel is definitely better than doing whatever one does on Grindr, I'm sure. It's probably even better than Playstation. Wow, you're a Superbowl guy? I guess probably a lot of people whom I would never suspect are. Strange from the outside. Skype chat, sure, down the road, sure. No problem, cool. Thanks re: 'The Body'. Bon weekend. ** xTx, Hey. Yeah, actually, oops, I fucked up by posting the RL link, and I got a panicked-ish email from the editor telling me that the link he sent me was to the pre-release, not-yet-copy-edited version, so I had to erase it. But, pssst, the issue is really good. Right, it could be 'Billie's' first trip to France maybe? So, yeah, if it shows up all smudged with macaron goo and baguette flakes, I will be very understanding. Have an excellent weekend! ** Tosh, Thank you, sir. Oh, man, I'm really envious of you getting to go to the Art Book Fair thing at MoCA. I so wish I could check that out. It looks fantastic in the images I've seen. ** Rewritedept, Dana Point, nice. Memories. Yeah, I guess that's how it works, although I really don't think there's anyone who doesn't doubt themselves a lot. I guess it's a balance issue. 'Total' confidence. Layout, cool. I don't know, that night you had sounds really nice. Just being inside Mandalay Bay or one of those Strip hotels turns my imagination into a helium balloon or something. I never saw MoB live, either back then or nowadays. Strange. Maybe they didn't tour through LA very much back then, and now, I don't know, I get a touch of reunion-itis about that. Uh, I have to go look at the photo you mentioned to answer your question because I can't remember. Hold on. Oh, yeah, I think that jacket was my dad's old 'smoking jacket', as he called it. If so, it was wine red and ... maybe velour or ... I don't know what you call it. Velvet-esque. Happy weekend. ** David Ehrenstein, Howdy. ** Toniok, Hey, man! Oh, thank you about the post. It was made as a gift for a friend, so I worked especially hard on it because it had that extra worthiness issue. Thanks about 'Lead Singer' too. That's actually a little piece of 'Kindertotenlieder', but I liked it enough to let it loose on its own. I don't know that 'Dead Girl' book. Or any of those three. I'll go hunt round and find out about them. Thank you for your knowingness too, and have a great Saturday, Sunday. ** Robert-nyc, Hi! Great, great that your reading went so well. I've only read about the Bureau of General Services--Queer Division, but it really does sound like a super place, and I sure hope they can score permanent lodgings, and I hope it lasts at least long enough that I'll get to check it out. Oh, I watched a video of Teribalanamal live, and I really liked it. Very cool! And I'll go find the recordings of you reading on FB. Excellent! Nice weekend to you, Robert. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Yeah, yeah, understood about the meds, and all hopes that they really help. Very nice about the great venue for the YnY spring launch. YnY really seems like it's entering this big new phase or something, no? It's really exciting. ** ASH, Hi, ASH! Great to see you! Thanks a lot about the post. Writing is going. I need to kick the progress up a good notch, but I'm not worried about that like I was for a while. Is 'You're Nothing' out? I've only heard the single. Shit, I'll go get it today, if it's gettable. I want to see 'Cloud Atlas'. Either it hasn't gotten here yet, which would be strange maybe, or I missed its run. I haven't seen any films lately. Been out of the habit for some reason. Still hoping and trying to plan for Euroheedfest. I just need to see what Gisele has in store for me and when. I'll enjoy my weekend, and you too, okay? ** Ken Baumann, Ken! It would trippy awesome in the majorest way if the big A was in 'WS'. Jeez! Makes sense about the financial threat. Hm. With Zac, I think we're thinking isolation plus mutual enthusiasm might be impetus enough, but a Plan B(lackmail) certainly won't hurt. Okay. May your spirits be as high as mine this weekend and way beyond. ** Schlix, Thank you again, big U! I think I'll be able to pry that book out of Gisele's hands shortly. But thank you, and I'll let you know if she puts it under lock and key. I know Gisele is really, really happy with the new'TIHYWD' performer. And if the birds behaved, that's sweet, 'cos that's always the thing that keeps me biting my nails the whole time I'm watching it. Take care, great weekend to you. ** Steevee, Really nice piece on 'The Caretakers', Steve. Really excellent work. I hope Slate bites on your Soderbergh idea. It sounds like a really swell angle to me. ** Zack, Hi, Zack! Never? I have a big fear of heights too, but ferris wheels seem to be okay. I get rattled while I'm waiting in line, but when I'm actually on one, the solidity of the machine itself, and maybe the comforting roundness, make it okay. The surgical scar guy got the scar from riding the ferris wheel in the background. I think he fell out and got impaled or something. Oops, I probably just reinforced your fear of ferris wheels many-fold, sorry. That's great news about the literary scene in Detroit. Yeah, the literary scene in the States just seems like it's spreading and strengthening and getting more exciting literally by the day these days. A very fine weekend to you! ** Alan, Hi, Alan. Holy shit, do those sound completely incredible! Good Lord. Thank you so much for passing that on. Somebody must be translating them into English. Roussel's body of work is so is so tight and precious, I mean, someone must be on that. Man, am I jonesing to read them. I don't know much about nonfiction book advances. I know ... what do I know, let's see ... I know that, if a book seems like it would have some kind of broad appeal, the advance tends to be quite a bit higher than with fiction. I think that with, say, collections of previously published essays or something, which isn't relevant, the advances tend to be lower than with fiction. Lower end, hm, the low-to-mid 4 figures, but I think that would apply to the essay collections thing. Seems like low-to-mid 5 figures maybe on the low end in other cases? But, yeah, I really don't know. I'm just speculating based on bits and pieces of info. On marketing stuff, I think if it's a 'big book', you probably get a fair amount of input/control. But I think in general that publishers' attitude is that they know the biz and that writers tend to be naive/utopian. I've never had real input into that with my books. They just tell me what they're going to do, and, if I object to something or have a creative idea that they think would only help without costing them much extra, they tend to say, Sure. Great weekend! ** Anonymous /Postit, That a good GbV song to know, if you only know one. Oh, yeah, I'll pick a Bright Eyes song by Monday. Sorry, I've been out and about a lot. Terrific next two days to you! ** Okay. You will have a superb local, i.e. blog generated weekend, I am sure, and I only hope that the rest of your time suits every one of your purposes. See you on Monday.
26 comments:
Great work, Paradigm. Everything but The Third Man.
Woah I totally missed Friday! I thought for some reason I had already seen it but I guess not, so I got the treat of two posts on Saturday! The slave post made me sad because of the one about the boy being raped and then having a stroke but I also enjoyed the rest of it, and all the other posts too! The idea that there's a whole world under our feet that we can explore, and the idea of exploring something that isn't necessarily safe and ordered is really really cool to me.
I've decided I want to add Iceland to my list of places to go, it seems like a really brilliant musical climate there. I watched Screaming Masterpiece (link takes you to the full documentary on youtube yay) and it seems really cool and lovely there. I might try and find something work/intern-y to do over there, because I can't decide what I want to spend my Summer doing! Any ideas?
I am back home three times in February and while getting stranded there due to snow could potentially muck up my course, I am secretly crossing my fingers for some snow while I'm back! Hope you are well! Sickness has come to the Archery household (aka where I live in Leeds) and I am also crossing my fingers I do not get it.
Tunnels! Ferris Wheels! Everything I am afraid in life shows up on your blog! Yet, totally fascinating.
For those in the L.A. /Southern California area do go to the Art Book Fair at MOCA Geffen. Its incredible and a bit overwhelming. Endless booths of great looking books/zines, you name it - all under one roof! The event is free, the books are not - but that's good. Perfect.
Very nice post today, Paradigm! There's a small chance I'll end up in Australia this year; maybe I'll get to experience some of these firsthand.
I remember going on an interesting tour of tunnels under Seattle years ago. Looks like it's still happening.
I love Kwaidan. I was totally obsessed with the soundtrack from the segment with Kinshi Tsuruta playing shamisen.
Ed Koch RIP. What a character. By chance, I started watching Blank Generation with Richard Hell, not a great film, but fun to see NY back in the day.
Bill
Thanks for your praise on my review. The Daily Beast doesn't pay that well, and their editor was oddly incommunicative, but I want to keep on writing for them.
Did you ever see the Canadian urban exploration zine INFILITRATION? I used to buy it at Tower Records, but I don't know what happened to it after they wet under. It was excellent.
Latest FaBlog: It Gets Ridiculous
Paradigm, whenever I think of the secret cities beneath cities, I always think of this Coil song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRX66D09tt8
Went to see "Django Unchained" a second time today. This time I went with two of my younger brothers, both Tarantino fans as well. They seemed to enjoy it.
Dennis, have you ever read Dostoevsky? I started "Brothers Karamazov" a few nights ago: I've owned a copy of the book since 2005, yet only now am I getting to it.
Paradigm, I love shit like this. I was just thinking the other day how I'd love to have tunnels and rooms under my house. Even basements are cool to me. Washington, DC has bunches of secret underground tunnels, for obvious reasons. That always thrilled me.
Dennis, Yeah, I had a friend who doesn't like heights and had never been on a ferris wheel before who got on the London Eye when she was there. She was surprised how un-scary it was. Of course, it's all closed in and shit, but I assume it's the same effect.
Kind of like diving into water but in reverse. When you're on a diving board, you seem higher than you actually are because you're seeing the bottom of the pool.
I dreamt last night that I was in London and couldn't find Rigby's phone number in my phone for the life of me. We finally met up, and suddenly, instead of the one big Eye there were several little Eyes all over the city.
We got about half an inch of non-sticking snow, so it was basically rain. Though everybody on the Beltway -except me, of course, hehehe- drove like it was 40 feet of snow out there. We've got the piss-poorest, sissiest drivers in this area.
Hey Dennis,
Yeah, the Ferris wheel thing would definitely become frightening or claustrophobic if it were to actually happen, I think: I mean, even for a super-fast blowjob you're still up there for a good five minutes? Three? Not moving. That would freak me out quickly.
The only thing Grindr offers that novel-writing doesn't is the chance to not think about how my career is going on the line in a matter of days. Same with Playstation.
I'm not really into the Superbowl at all. I am into socializing with cool people, and I guess glasses of wine, and any escape from Waco. It sounds like an interesting gig, because we'll spend the first half with our friend Chris and his roommmates and their straight friends, and then at halftime we'll switch and go hang out with his gay football-fan friends, and then maybe go out afterwards and maybe not who can say. But I'm looking forward to seeing Chris; he's becoming an honest to god Good Friend. You have a new one of those right? What's he like?
If I hear anything about the book and its status I'll let you know, but Ross straight-out totally me he's going to keep me almost entirely in the dark. He says I'll sleep better, he says I don't need to know. I'm like whatever, OK, fine.
I'm examining the proposal for the last time over the next few days. How are you supposed to feel when sending a book to publishers? Is there an answer to that?
J
Ps have you heard the new Knife song/seen the video?
Hey Dennis, thanks for hosting the day. Headtorches are better then flash lights as you can see with your head rather than your hands.Hope you find someone to explore. It would be interesting to try and find the locations of the Nadal photos and how the places have changed.
Hope you get some work in on the novel this weekend. I have Sunday free and am going to try and get a little bit of writing in.
David E, Thanks. It's fairly comprehensive isn't it? I love that scene in the Third Man. My aim with the post was to feature the more unseen.
Billy, The times I've been done in tunnels and under bridges in Melbourne it's always been fairly safe. The one guarantee to this is to make sure you don't go exploring when heavy rain is scheduled as that can create danger. Also going with others is better.
Tosh, I didn't mention it in this day but alongside the underground tunnels urban exploration is also about exploring abandoned buildings or even in the case of one of the explorations I went on under a series of highway bridges.
Bill, thanks. Where in Australia are you looking at coming to? If you do come get in touch with the Cave clan and you should be able to get out and explore
Steevee, i have heard of infilitration if its the same one as the website. the cave clan used to put out a zine here in australia as well. the cut and paste format of it works well for the content matter i feel.
Sypha, haven't heard the song will make sure to listen to it this weekend. thanks
Misanthrope, yeah I can imagine DC being full of tunnels. there's something exciting about them for sure.
paradigm-
there's so decent urban exploration in vegas, but there's not really much in the way of urban anything here to explore. i do enjoy going with my friends who write to scope out new tunnels and stuff, but i always feel like i should bring a knife with me.
d-
oh my god worst day ever. i think i almost broke my ankle at work. dunno, but it's turning purple. i did forget my phone at the office. i would care more if i didn't really just kind of despise the telephone. like, i despise ALL telephones. fuck telephones. had like no sleep last night, everything was a total failure that i attempted, fuck downtown las vegas and yeah. jesus, i've wanted to scream my fucking brains out for the last 20 hours. ugh.
but then i came home and looked on fb and went 'whaaaaaa? why does this always happen when i'm at work?' and now i'm home with a doobie and a glass of whisky and i'm listening to mbv and i can't contain my happiness. i never thought this day would come, even though i knew it would. if they announce a show in LA, i will probably skip coachella just to see them. i can catch blur another time.
yeah, burma didn't seem like they toured all that much the first time around. does reunionitis still count if the reunion is really good? cuz i think they've done a good job with their last few. i have a bit of a soft spot for those guys, though. they've written some of my favorites.
thursday was nice. last night was fun, i guess. but i got too fucked up and it kinda sucked. i need to stop drinking when i take muscle relaxers. today seriously sucked until i got home. but you heard about all that. how was yr weekend?
lots of digressions from here today. 'total' confidence is maybe just not letting on that you don't have confidence. you're the only person i complain to, or at least i try not to bitch too much to people. i'm probably not that good at it, since i think i'm a fucking complainer to the highest level. but by and large, i try not to let on that i don't believe in myself. then i and the audience can both be pleasantly surprised.
ok, i need to wrap and possibly ice my bruised and swollen ankle. i'll probably have more before the weekend's out. talk soon.
-me.
paradigm-
con't...
when i said 'friends who write,' i meant 'friends who write graff.'
Boy do I feel like a screwup Dennis. Looked for you last night at Jerk, a couple of weeks ago I saw the ad for the Keine Disziplin ("No Disclipline") festival and presumed "you" would be in Zurich. What they say about presumptions and all... So my boss's kid had a birthday, Zurich is very international, I thought I would take the whole gang to see you and your puppetshow (they attend a Montessori school). SO nervous about seeing you after all these years, I had them all wear Pfadi (Swiss boy scout) uniforms that sort of look like Mosley's blueshirt get-up, like what Vivienne wore to TS's reading when she got out of the hospital. I thought HERES YOUR CRAZY OLD PAL showing up after ten? years but lets go ahead and make a joke outta the awkwardness and what better way to do that etc. Started dawning on me when I saw a single chair on stage that you might not even be doing the puppets, like after my (embarrassing to admit) tenth techno show over here in Eurovision that the "DJ" was not actually composing/performing the music before the crowd and that the whole performance consisted of DJ's gyrations, poses (the theatrically upraised finger, arms above the head straining under a heavy, invisible log, full (pulled) body-slam onto the panel that accompanied each simple push of a button, turn of a knob, etc. (PS NOT HATING-- I LOVE TECHNO). So two rows full of kids, the guy passed out fliers, kept craning my head looking for you while I wasnt busy shushing the kids. I'm sure your buddy's cool but didnt know whether he'd play along if I introduced him to the kids after the concert as old friend Dennis (I'd been talking this up for a month, these are very international kids). Cut five minutes later, one of the puppets has fisted another puppet TO DEATH, some of the less-international kids are bawling, I'm frantic passing out xannies, addies, placidyls (bad back) trying to maintain control but when the puppets cut that puppets legs off to fuck its ass better I had several kids bluer than their uniforms and hightailed it out. Don't know if you were there or not but had some great ideas for merch, lets talk it over next time Im in Paris. xo
Paradigm,
Great post! I love exploring places like this, do it every chance I get. I also like exploring the tunnel systems that exist in highway overpasses in the US— it requires climbing up, then entering a strange little hole and walking along walkways that are 30-150 feet off the ground, but still "underground," or underneath the highway. Pretty amazing. If you can, I'd recommend reading William T. Vollmann's article "They Came Out Like Ants!," which is about the underground tunnels that Chinese immigrants built between San Diego, Imperial County, and Mexico. It's totally a dreamy, mysterious article.
Dennis!
Hey, sorry it's been a bit. A few setbacks here (*legal troubles, ahem*), but otherwise, things are good. Been reading and writing a fair amount, which is excellent. Gotten really into drones and minimalist classical again recently, so that's been nice, too. Have you heard the new MBV album, speaking of music? It's pretty great, in my humble opinion. Someone mentioned the new Knife track, which I listened to part of the other day then turned off in utter disappointment....very flat, no dynamic tension throughout the entire 9 minutes. Weird, for the Knife.
Hope all's well with you.
xoxot
paradigm, great great post. the lighted tunnels are awesome. i wouldn't mind exploring some tunnels if i felt guaranteed i could get out i guess but it'd be scary as shit to be trapped in a collapsed one or a cave or something. "ghost platforms" seems like a cool concept/phrase.
dennis, so writing blocked, the only thing that was helping me was smoking but i've had to stop b/c the job search & 95% of full-time jobs drug test. it's so fucked that like heroin & meth & shit get out of your system in less than a week but, especially for fatties like me, weed stays in your system like a month. anyway i'm blocked as fuck, it fucking sucks. happy men in tights giving each other concussions for capitalism day
I saw Walter Hill's BULLET TO THE HEAD today and thought it really sucked. The American masses seem to agree, as though there were only about 10 other people in the theater. It's his first film in 10 years, and I was hoping for something along the lines of WILD BILL, if not THE WARRIORS or SOUTHERN COMFORT. Instead, I got a Z-grade vehicle for Sylvester Stallone, whose character is so macho and trigger-happy that he quickly turns to self-parody. (I await reviews claiming this is some sort of meta commentary on the action genre.) The film feels like it was made solely for middle-aged (and older) white men who lean conservative; it's full of casual sexism (if I'm not mistaken, every single woman onscreen gets naked) and racism. The action scenes are well-directed, but then you have to put up with the connecting tissue.
@ Paradigm, thank you for all this lovely subterranea. It put me in mind of those great Kippenberger subway artworks.
rewritedept, yeah some of the best places to graff are down in the storm water drains. there's some graff from the 1960's in some of the drains in Melbourne. why do you feel you need a knife?
trees, i agree about exploring under highway overpasses. one of the cave clan expos i went on was under a pass in Melbourne. the space that is created with those structures is quite massive. apparently there used to be raves in some of them in Melbourne in the 90's early 00's. I'll look up the Vollman article. Always enjoyed his writings.
posit, generally i have found the storm water drains I've explored in Australia to be quite safe. They are normally reinforced concrete or in the older cases bricks. The biggest danger is storm water runoffs and the cave clan do avoid going out when big rains are expected to avoid that occurirng. other than that its generally quite safe. the lighttunnels are interesting and i wish i knew how they were made. i have visited one of the sights in the series and i must say the exposure and the camera work is pretty great to capture those images.
Black acrylic, thanks. i will check out the subway art.
christ, i loved this. when i was young Stephen King's IT and the related tunnels and shit always made me super curious and excited about the prospect of finding that sort of thing where i live. i've found quite a bit around wisconsin and some good friends spent some time living in tunnels neath minneapolis for awhile. also, i needed a place to think clearly for a second while the U.S. is swallowed up by the fucking Super Bowl, so uh, thanks for that. sorry to have come so late to this one. dennis, i know i wrote you that long ambling email about the state of things, blah. things are better. the open end, this press that hand-makes all their stuff, published a similarly ambling rant about publishing, submitting, all that shit, which seems nice. i think the chapbook officially comes out in the last week of april, and i'm working on a collaborative thing with an artist i used to date that'll be all homemade and will definitely come with my package whenever i get copies of the book.
here's that thing if you (or any of you lovebirds) get bored. 50 thoughts upon receipt of another rejection email
love to everyone. stay warm.
grant
paradigm-
bums in vegas can be violent. not all of them. just, you know. sometimes you run into the really unhinged ones.
Paradigm: Beautiful, beautiful post. 'Undercities' are so fascinating. It's really cool when you find yourself physically in a big, hidden underground structural question mark. I have to go back to watch the films. Just lovely.
Dennis: Hey, D! To answer your question, yes, I feel better than when I posted the other day regarding the flu. And that was almost three fucking weeks into it. I was astonished at the layers of pain and weakness it heaped on my already-taxed-out system. Not even the big boy pain pills would touch it. So, yeah, the appearance of the nurse came right on time. And she's getting my working spaces arranged so I can finally get back to work. I hate it when my already slow processes drag to a halt because of this sort of thing (especially since 'this sort of thing' is the topic of the novel-in-progress).
While I'm at that, tomorrow, the Lamictal stuff goes up another 50mgs. The neurologist realized I had to take it at my pace. He'd like me to be on about 400mgs already and I'm at less than half of that. I just don't like to mess with those weirdo CNS drugs. The only benefit they've ever had before was to 'prevent' epileptic episodes, which they still can't even pinpoint.
I had some fun things to say that aren't appearing at this very second, so back to those later.
Best to everyone.
Njr
Wonder 2 is worth the price of admission, MBV - hope you're well - things is good, mostly work, attempting to set up future gigs, getting caught up on socializing...etc... Ben's in the beginnings of discussions with Yerba Buena and that's about all it's cold and you...
@Paradigm: Just wanted to thank you for putting this together, there's a lot of interesting stuff on here. I started clicking around Infiltration.org a little bit, it's cool to learn about all this. Austin has a bunch of underground caves and rivers, I've known people over there who enjoy exploring underground tunnels, although I've never done it myself. Anyway thanks again :)
@Dennis:
Hey Dennis, I really liked the Ferris wheel post the other day, I stole some gifs from that...
Can't think of anything very interesting to say
Earlier this afternoon I watched this really funny youtube series called "Yacht Rock" and now I've been watching Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins videos almost non-stop since then
http://networkawesome.com/show/collection-yacht-rock-1/
Hope you had a nice weekend, talk to you later...looks like it's time for me to set sail on a voyage straight to the top of the charts
(puts on boat captain hat and slowly floats away into the sky, like Glenda the good witch)
Paradigm -
Fellow Melbourne dweller here, and so I found your post super interesting and eye opening. Your little inclusion by Steve Duncan digging and finding the shoe and the tarpaulin FREAKED.ME.THE.HELL.OUT.
I purely walk above ground, but I've always got my eyes on the drains. I ride along the Yarra River and see huge drains opening around Richmond and South Yarra. I've often wanted to just go walking in. I've heard about the Cave Clan, and wanted to get down amongst it, but confess I've been a bit freaked out by it all. Would you ever go out again with the Clan? If so, I'd really like to come. Email me on gscicluna@iprimus.com.au if you want to. I'm writing a horror film about some cavers at the moment, so it could be great visceral research!
Thanks Paradigm - really got to me, your post.
Dennis - how goes it? Long lurk, no speak. I wanted to write and say I tracked down a copy of Wrong. I loved the stories so much, especially A Herd, Container, He Cried but it is Wrong, man, Wrong which I can just not get out of my head. It's so melancholic and brutal. I know it must be going back to ask this but where were you at when you wrote it? I think it's got the most emotion of all your short stories.
Actually, and let me ask you this - if there is one short story/reportage piece that makes your gut kind of tense, which might it be? For me it is Wrong, and the reportage on "Larry Clark's Perfect Childhood", when you showed all the pictures that young street kid who kind of saw himself in the work.
Anyways, sorry if that's heavy. Speak soon!
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