Jack Boulware
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Readings January 08
Friday January 18, 7pm
Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco
Launch of a new quarterly from The Fray storytelling empire. This premier issue is titled “Busted: True Stories of Getting Caught in the Act.” Readers include Joe Loya, Steve Silberman, Kirk Read, Kate Kotler, and myself. Emcee: Fray editor/publisher Derek Powazek. My piece details the experience of smuggling a severed swordfish beak from Chile into the United States (which a few of you might have heard on Air America Radio).
Saturday January 19, 730 pm
Edinburgh Castle, 950 Geary, San Francisco
Accompanying my pal Chuck Thompson, who’s on tour for his new book, “Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer” (Holt), which is getting rave reviews:
“(Thompson) knows the score and he tallies it accurately. … A dead-on demolition job. … The book is a savagely funny act of revenge.”—The New York Times
“Consistently irreverent, Thompson is wickedly entertaining … reminiscent of Chuck Klosterman and David Foster Wallace. … Thompson asks the right questions about why we travel, how we travel and what we expect from the experience. The unvarnished reality in these pages might just make you more eager than ever to hit the road.”—San Francisco Chronicle
Books will be for sale at both events.
Ireland’s Most Eccentric Castle
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Winston Churchill’s baby clothes. A 10-foot-tall toilet. UFO abductions. They’re all part of Ireland’s most eccentric castle.
The Man in the Can
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Being chased by a bull is Martin Kiff’s job. And yeah, there’s an art to it. But the bigger question is, how does Martin Kiff fit 26 rodeo clowns into one truck?
Visiting a Glacier — Before They’re All Gone
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The Melting Point
Whether or not you believe in global warming, the fact remains that a vast majority of the world’s glaciers are shrinking.
Busted: True Stories of Getting Caught in the Act
Fray publishing, 2008.
A new quarterly from San Francisco’s Fray storytelling community.
“Fray began as a website. We presented individually designed, true first-person stories. Each one ended with a question that prompted the audience to tell their stories, too. Then it evolved into a series of live storytelling events, Fray Days and Fray Cafes, that took place all over the world, attended by thousands of people. And now Fray is evolving again – this time into a quarterly series of independently produced books. Each one will be on a central storytelling theme, and include personal stories, articles, and original art. They will come out quarterly. They will be awesome.”
Buy copies here.
Upcoming Appearances
The Litquake festival kicks off October 6, and runs through the 13th with events all over the Bay Area. I’ll be part of the Porch Light Storytelling night on Monday October 8th at the Swedish American Hall, along with Marta Acosta, Robert Mailer Anderson, Dave Eggers, Alvin Orloff, Milta Ortiz, Frank Portman, Eric Spitznagel, and Cameron Tuttle. Tickets are $15, available at ticketweb.com or cafedunord.com. I’ll also be producing a few of the other events, so please drop by throughout the week and say howdy. There’s over 350 authors this year, and over 50 events. For more info on Litquake check out our website at www.litquake.org.
On November 10 I’ll be part of the second annual Swearing Festival at the Edinburgh Castle Literary Pub. Events include The Mass Swearing Experiment, A Most Horrible, Vile Oaths contest, The Verbal Abuse Duel, live music, and Curse Torture, sponsored by The Dick Cheney Ideas Group. This gets really packed so plan ahead. For details go to castlenews.com.
Journey to the End of the East Bay
Penguin, 2009. Since December 2006 I’ve been working almost full-time on an oral history of punk rock in the Bay Area. My co-author is Silke Tudor, and we’ve interviewed nearly 200 people, from Green Day, Rancid and Operation Ivy, on back to Maximum Rock n Roll magazine, the Dead Kennedys, Flipper, The Avengers, Crime, and The Nuns. Check out our myspace page for a nice swath of Bay Area punk!
History of The Nose magazine
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I haven’t written much about this era of my life, and I don’t know exactly why it feels time to post a few things about it. Probably because if something isn’t available online, it automatically doesn’t exist for a lot of people. And perhaps because enough time has passed. And maybe because I’m publishing a new book about punk rock history, and people aren’t sure if I was ever a punk. Anyway, here goes.
Nest of Vipers podcast
I’m an occasional guest pundit/motormouth on this new podcast produced by filmmaker Danny Plotnick and distributed by San Francisco’s KQED public radio/TV empire. Read the rest of this page »
Live From Abbey Road
An exclusive inside look at London’s legendary Abbey Road, recording studio for Sir Edward Elgar, Glenn Miller, Beyond the Fringe, Pink Floyd, and some group called The Beatles. A new music television show, Live From Abbey Road, was taped at the studio and premieres June 2007 on the Sundance Channel. Read the rest of this page »
The Modern Mixologist
Media star, cocktail creator, and Las Vegas bartender extraordinaire Tony Abou-Ganim, the world’s first monarch of the bar. And the snappiest dresser I’ve ever met. Read the rest of this page »
Skatepark King of Santa Cruz
Big-wave surfer Zach Wormhoudt inherited his father’s love of skateboarding — and his company. Today he’s head of the industry’s top skatepark design firm. Read the rest of this page »
She is JT LeRoy
How did a 40-year-old woman fool the world into thinking she was teenage prostitute and wunderkind author JT LeRoy? As a punk rocker, porn writer and phone sex operator, Laura Albert had been inventing herself for years. This story first appeared in Salon, and was the basis for a screenplay commissioned by the Weinstein Brothers. Not that I got paid anything. Read the rest of this page »
The New Asian Tiger?
Inside Vietnam’s remarkable economic renaissance. One reason — lots of catfish. Read the rest of this page »
Cricket Fighting in Beijing (and other cricket lore)
Some are for singing, others for fighting. Some tell you the temperature. As a collective bunch, they indicate when it’s time to plow a field. Maybe that’s why the right cricket in China can fetch nearly $13,000. Read the rest of this page »
American Jazz in Paris
America may be the birthplace of jazz — and of such legends as Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong — but it’s the Parisian radio station TSF that’s keeping the passion for it alive. Read the rest of this page »
The Golden Age of Pirates
Yes, another story about pirates. This is an overview of piracy on the high seas, as it pertains to what eventually became the coastal United States. Read the rest of this page »
The World Record-Breaking Capital
The strongest hair! The youngest sumo wrestler! The longest pencil! In Malaysia, making your mark - any mark - is a matter of national pride. Read the rest of this page »
Lasermonks to the Rescue
The best deal in online office supplies just happens to come from a band of Cistercian monks. Read the rest of this page »
History’s Unsolved Heists
A short compendium of stolen loot, stashed about the globe and waiting to be discovered. Read the rest of this page »
Treasure Island
American millionaire Bernard Keiser has spent six years of his life, digging for buried treasure off the coast of Chile. He’s survived government red tape, skeptical locals, and competition from a metal-detecting robot. And still no treasure. So what keeps him going? Read the rest of this page »
Another Story About YouTube
This one focuses almost exclusively on the legendary “Bus Uncle” video. Read the rest of this page »
Barris the Kustomizer King
The Father of the Batmobile made Tom Wolfe’s career, and he’s still alive and kicking in Los Angeles. Read the rest of this page »
Wimpy Pirate of the Caribbean
On the trail of Mundaca, the Yucatan’s lovesick pirate. Read the rest of this page »
Cigar Overdose in Ybor City
America’s first capital of cigars was Tampa, Florida. This is what happens when a visitor attempts to smoke as many stogies as possible every day. Read the rest of this page »
Appearance — Litquake Literary Festival
Upcoming Readings
Monday July 10, I’ll be doing a reading at Stephen Elliott’s Progressive Reading Series, at The Make-Out Room, 3225 33nd Street in San Francisco. Starts at 7 pm, $10-$20 sliding scale.
Here’s a recent S.F. Chronicle article about the series.
The Foghat Chronicles
What began as a simple joke posting to my website blossoms into a strange correspondence with three members of the 70s band Foghat.
The Dismantling of a Dot-Com
A short story about the dotcom rise and fail, told entirely through emails from a publicist.
The Information Man
A short story based on San Francisco’s legendary community of archivists and collectors. Includes gratuitous Star Wars reference.
The Heart of Voltaire
A quest through the streets of Paris to find the heart of Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire.
Haunted Hawaii
I traveled to three of the Hawaiian islands to learn more about local superstitions. And just scratched the surface.
The Rock and Roll Treehouse
Frank Zappa’s notorious home in Laurel Canyon goes up for sale after 30 years. Alice Cooper, Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Pamela Des Barres, and members of the Mothers of Invention remember the days.
Do You Google?
An inside look at the Google search engine, the last refuge of Silicon Valley zaniness. (pre-IPO)
World’s Largest Collection of Pornography
A visit to San Francisco’s Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, and a portion of its 22 warehouses stuffed with pornography from all over the world.
Fast and Furious Import Cars
Two stories about the nation’s obsession with souped-up “Fast and the Furious” import cars.
Race City USA
A look at the Mecca of NASCAR fans—Mooresville, North Carolina, aka “Race City USA.” They were thrilled to be interviewed for Playboy.
Unexploded Ordnance in Iraq
Iraq is the world’s largest junkyard of UXO (unexploded ordnance). These are the guys who clean up the mess.
Poker-Crazy America
A comprehensive look at our nation’s obsession with all things poker.
The Friendster Phenomenon
Tollecting friends online has never been so easy—and so, I don’t know, ephemeral?
Big-Wave Surfing at Cortes Bank
Kamikaze surfers attempt 60-foot waves, 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. It’s only been surfed four times, and with good reason. You’d have to be insane.
Sumo in Prague
Outside Japan, the hotbed of amateur sumo wrestling is in the Czech Republic. Sweaty wrestlers, a sumo-themed hotel, and beer for breakfast.
Kaiju Fighting Monsters
Godzilla-style creatures battling each other inside a steel cage. This is Boston’s oddball comedy/performance act Kaiju.
Ron White
The Texas comedian who makes the Blue Collar Comedy phenomenon actually funny.
RIP Johnny Carson
The late-night television king is dead at 79. Here’s a story I wrote about him a few years ago for Salon.com, which was linked over the weekend on Metafilter.
Sex, American Style
Published by Feral House, 1997. This was my first book, a socio-anthropological dig into America’s heterosexual revolution. The one I missed. Includes the histories of waterbeds, hot tubs, communes, nudist resorts, swingers, and all sorts of adult and mainstream pop culture. Tons of rare images.
* NOTE: This book is currently out of print, but copies are still floating around online here and here. Read the rest of this page »
San Francisco Bizarro
St. Martin’s, 2000. An illustrated guidebook that’s really more of a tear through the last 50 years of San Francisco history. Chapters on sex, death, celebrities, sleazy bars, strange museums, and odd inventions. Plenty of photos, addresses, and contact information. Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and fine bookstores everywhere.
Readings and Such…
One of my favorite magazine feature writers typing today.—David Pescovitz, Boingboing.net
The funniest writer in SF.—Roman Mars, producer, KALW program “Invisible Ink”
Stunning, hysterical stories.—Derek Pozawek, founder, Fray.com storytelling community
A clip from KQED’s “Spark” program about the Porchlight storytelling series.
Expats in Bangalore
Lose your job to outsourcing? Why not move to India and get it back?
The Contender Boxing Show
Behind the scenes of Sly Stallone’s boxing reality show The Contender (since cancelled).