Jack Boulware

Archive for April, 2006

The Foghat Chronicles

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

What began as a simple joke posting to my website blossoms into a strange correspondence with three members of the 70s band Foghat.

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The Dismantling of a Dot-Com

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

A short story about the dotcom rise and fail, told entirely through emails from a publicist.

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The Information Man

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

A short story based on San Francisco’s legendary community of archivists and collectors. Includes gratuitous Star Wars reference.

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Posted in Fiction, Humor | 1 Comment »

The Heart of Voltaire

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

A quest through the streets of Paris to find the heart of Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire.

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Haunted Hawaii

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

I traveled to three of the Hawaiian islands to learn more about local superstitions. And just scratched the surface.

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Posted in Journalism | 7 Comments »

The Rock and Roll Treehouse

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

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.

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Do You Google?

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

An inside look at the Google search engine, the last refuge of Silicon Valley zaniness. (pre-IPO)

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World’s Largest Collection of Pornography

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

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.

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Fast and Furious Import Cars

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

Two stories about the nation’s obsession with souped-up “Fast and the Furious” import cars.

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Race City USA

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

A look at the Mecca of NASCAR fans—Mooresville, North Carolina, aka “Race City USA.” They were thrilled to be interviewed for Playboy.

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Unexploded Ordnance in Iraq

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

Iraq is the world’s largest junkyard of UXO (unexploded ordnance). These are the guys who clean up the mess.

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Poker-Crazy America

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

A comprehensive look at our nation’s obsession with all things poker.

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The Friendster Phenomenon

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

Tollecting friends online has never been so easy—and so, I don’t know, ephemeral?

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Big-Wave Surfing at Cortes Bank

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

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.

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Posted in Writing, Journalism | 3 Comments »

Sumo in Prague

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

Outside Japan, the hotbed of amateur sumo wrestling is in the Czech Republic. Sweaty wrestlers, a sumo-themed hotel, and beer for breakfast.

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Kaiju Fighting Monsters

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

Godzilla-style creatures battling each other inside a steel cage. This is Boston’s oddball comedy/performance act Kaiju.

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Ron White

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

The Texas comedian who makes the Blue Collar Comedy phenomenon actually funny.

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RIP Johnny Carson

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

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.

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Sex, American Style

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

SAScolorcover.jpgPublished 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.
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San Francisco Bizarro

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

bizarrocolorcover.jpgSt. 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.

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Readings and Such…

Posted by Jack on 20th April 2006

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.

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Expats in Bangalore

Posted by Jack on 14th April 2006

Lose your job to outsourcing? Why not move to India and get it back?

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Posted in Writing, Journalism | 12 Comments »

The Contender Boxing Show

Posted by Jack on 14th April 2006

Behind the scenes of Sly Stallone’s boxing reality show The Contender (since cancelled).

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The Mick Jagger of Pirates

Posted by Jack on 14th April 2006

The world’s most famous pirate, Blackbeard resurfaces for real along the coast of North Carolina.

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Crash/Up Hybrid Cars

Posted by Jack on 14th April 2006

Gearhead hackers redefine the hybrid car.

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Pirates of Kiev

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

An assignment for Wired magazine ends up in Kiev, Ukraine, world’s hotbed for CD piracy. This version includes a visit to the Chernobyl Museum.

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Beatles Festival in Liverpool

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

Aboard the “Magical Mystery Tour” bus filled with Beatles fanatics, en route from London to Liverpool.

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Boom Cars

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

Anational circuit of car-stereo competitions determines which car has the loudest sound system. “The Beast,” a modified 175-decibel Ford Bronco owned by a grandmotherly schoolteacher from Phoenix, prepares to regain the title of World’s Loudest Car. Includes a “bassing” cruise through West Palm Beach, setting off car alarms.

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Church of John Coltrane

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

ASan Francisco landlord evicts the world’s only church devoted to John Coltrane. This story investigates the dispute and details a history of the organization. After this story was published, I produced a jazz benefit at Bimbo’s nightclub in San Francisco, and we raised over $8,000 for the church.

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Posted in Writing, Journalism | 2 Comments »

Wild Boar Hunting

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

Awild pig hunting expedition through the bucolic wine country of Sonoma, which culminates in a barbecue. Lots of mail on this one.

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Posted in Writing, Journalism | 29 Comments »

The Kerouac Obsession

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

The estate of Beat writer Jack Kerouac was very messy in the late 1990s. The trail led from San Francisco to Kerouac’s hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts. Guest appearance by Johnny Depp.

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Coyle & Sharpe Audio Pranksters

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

In the early 1960s, two young men dressed up in suits and took a tape recorder around San Francisco, pulling weird pranks on unsuspecting pedestrians and shop owners. After 30 years, the recordings are finally available on CD.

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Porn Movie Extra

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

Behind the scenes of a porn movie shoot in which I appear as an extra (fully clothed, with three hours’ sleep). This 1995 film “Dog Walker,” directed by John Leslie, won four AVN awards including best director and best screenplay, no doubt in part because of my one line of dialogue. Excerpted from “Sex, American Style.”

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The Joie de Vivre of Alan Greenspan

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

This began innocently enough, as a magazine assignment about Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

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Teotihuacan Tango

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

A trip to Mexico on the eve of the California gubernatorial election culminates in an unforeseen encounter with a bigshot celebrity.

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Ice Golfing in Greenland

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

The treacheries of the world ice golf championships, held on the frozen waters of western Greenland.

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The Wine of Mass Destruction

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

A unique home-made product from California’s wine country. And unlike the WMD in Iraq, the Wine of Mass Destruction actually exists.

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The Sumo Wrestler has the Flu

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

“Riding black” in Prague, waiting for Sumo and dreaming of defenestration. Outtakes from “Sumo in Prague.”

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Bill Hicks

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

Two pieces about the late comedian/satirist Bill Hicks.

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Yahoo for Wahoo

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

One of the fastest fish in the sea. Razor sharp teeth. Just try and catch one.

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My First Hippie

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

Part of a work in progress, a collection of stories about growing up in the modern American west. Some of these chapters have been performed at readings, and recorded for radio.

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My First Hippie

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

A true story about my first encounter with hippies.

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We Are Good

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, I wrote down everything I saw or heard in the media, and fashioned a sort of poem. A month later, I read it at San Francisco’s Edinburgh Castle pub, and then recorded an audio version for Salon.com. It’s now been published as part of the Public House anthology.

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Public House Anthology

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

PublicHouseCover.gifPublic House Press, 2004. This anthology is a collection of authors who have done readings at San Francisco’s Edinburgh Castle pub over the years. Featuring writings from Irvine Welsh, Mary Roach, Po Bronson, Noah Hawley, Peter Plate, Alan Black, and myself, among many others. Includes bonus audio CD of Welsh. Available through Amazon.

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Bruddah IZ

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

postcard_f.jpgAn essay on the life of the late Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.

Over the Rainbow

Honolulu, two a.m. Music producer Jon de Mello is sleeping when the phone rings. It’s Israel, one of the artists he represents for his Mountain Apple record label. And Israel is wide awake. He often has problems at night because his weight upwards of 700 pounds forces him to sleep while hooked up to an oxygen tank. He tells de Mello he wants to record, right now. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Writing, Essays | 2 Comments »

Roadstrips

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

comicsanthocover.jpgChronicle Books, 2005. This is a cool new comics anthology about our national psyche called Roadstrips: A Graphic Journey Across America.

Artists include Peter Kuper, Gilbert Hernandez, Jessica Abel, Pete Bagge, Richard Sala, Brian Biggs, and Lloyd Dangle. Edited by Pete Friedrich. I wrote the intro essay about the West Coast. Order from Amazon here.

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Everything You Know About Sex

Posted by Jack on 13th April 2006

sexantho.jpgEverything You Know About Sex Is Wrong: The Disinformation Guide to the Extremes of Human Sexuality (and everything in between), Disinformation, 2005.

This massive, oversized anthology features a panoply of sexperts, everyone from prostitutes to professors, legends to newcomers, sexual revolutionaries to sexologists and beyond, providing a varied and unexpected look at sex, challenging our notions of what is possible and in turn exciting, enervating, frightening, and freaking us out.

Essays and writings from Salvador Dali, Tristan Taormino, Susie Bright, Carole Queen, Violet Blue, Paul Krassner, Cecilia Tan, Annalee Newitz, and myself. Edited by Russ Kick. Order from Amazon here.

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