Author Archives: markweiss86

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About markweiss86

Mark Weiss, founder of Plastic Alto blog, is a concert promoter and artist manager in Palo Alto, as Earthwise Productions, with background as journalist, advertising copywriter, book store returns desk, college radio producer, city council and commissions candidate, high school basketball player, and blogger; he also sang in local choir, fronts an Allen Ginsberg tribute Beat Hotel Rm 32 Reads 'Howl' and owns a couple musical instruments he cannot play

Still grooving on, intrigued by Nicole Mitchell Lisa A. Harris ‘EarthSeed’ oratorio and tribute to Octavia Butler

Posted on September 10, 2020 by markweiss86

It’s a complex work, but it’s chipping away at me. I’ve bought two Octavia Butler books, and noted that both Veronica DeJesus, the visual artist, and Rebecca Eisenberg, the activist, feel her. I was streaming it from a link provided … Continue reading →

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Mom listen

Posted on September 10, 2020 by markweiss86

I am reading a letter Wallace Stegner 30 years ago wrote his mother after she had been gone 30 years, on the brink of his 80th. At the suggestion of Wayne Horovitz who also has an evening-length through-composed oratorio about … Continue reading →

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Rounders

Posted on September 4, 2020 by markweiss86

Molly Alyssa This post is about an author I read about in the Times, Alyssa Cole and it made me think of Molly Tuttle, Palo Alto’s rising star musician in Nashville, although obviously the connection I am making is pretty … Continue reading →

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I am posting about but not writing about new Charlie Kaufman thing, I think

Posted on September 4, 2020 by markweiss86

Bw I bought a New York Times T-shirt but not the one pictured in the New York Times newspaper by cell phone from a lady in Philadelphia

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Belgian drummer with cool tattoos revealed, released

Posted on September 2, 2020 by markweiss86

BLUF good luck to About Raf Vertessen and his new cd and sorry about the gratuitous reggae reference courtesy of or to Fully Altered I mention below or above (I forget – which way you scroll or which way history flows, … Continue reading →

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Their music lives on, and my versions of their stories

Posted on August 30, 2020 by markweiss86

Veronica DeJesus recently created a series of portraits, of musicians who I knew from my work as Earthwise Productions, which started in 1994 and continues, although my last concert was March 13 2020, having, like virtually everyone and everything on … Continue reading →

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Reich calls out DeJoy on $30m conflict, and motive to destroy Postal Service e

Posted on August 29, 2020 by markweiss86
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20 inter-related headlines from Yesterday’s the New York Times regarding the election two months away and the future of democracy IMHO

Posted on August 29, 2020 by markweiss86

  One. Trump bolstered by party he has transformed: emphasizing nationalist themes, he goes into election looking to shift narrative   Two. Trump Unchastened by time in top office, even impeachment   Three. Teen suspect glorified police and weapons   … Continue reading →

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I’m middle aged but James Dean and Natalie Wood have long since turned to dust swallowed by mites

Posted on August 28, 2020 by markweiss86
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World premiere of ‘There Is Something On Your Mind’ video featuring Nancy Wright, on Lions With Wings, an online initiative of concert promoter Earthwise Productions of Palo Alto

Posted on August 28, 2020 by markweiss86

Earthwise Productions has released a video, made by Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studios of San Jose, as part of its Lions With Wings initiative. The 8-minute video features six performers in isolation, an accomodation to the Covid-19 virus, but is edited … Continue reading →

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