Postcards from Gravelly Beach: Recent Episodes
Dave Thorvald Olson
Featuring spontaneous readings and erstwhile discourse from selected literary – from Russians to beats to contemporaries – plus usually smattering of original works by host Dave, often with eclectic assortment of music, and always recorded at splendid locale.
not just cereal. also alchemists and pop buddhist riffsVideo reading of this same dispatch (in moderately different edit) is at https://daveostory.com/film-vids-docs/postcards-video/cereal-and-hypnotists-four-poems-from-the-caboose/
Following recent reading at “Muriel’s Journey” poetry campaign from Vancouver, spontaneously share the honourable-mention poem “Small Box of Cereal” with some related artifacts, backstory, feelings about the poet’s task in creating, the impact the poems have on me and, while drinking coffee wearing dashing pajamas in the caboose — the affectionate name for the recent addition to our home in Okayama, Japan — read a previous piece included in Muriel’s Journey anthology book “Fire Within” in 2022 called “Alchemists confer with Hypnotists” with a bonus side bar included, plus “Osaka Afternoon” which kinda caught me off-guard, and finally a rather sprawling poem (which i relaly dig) called (somewhat cheesily) “Smiling on the Inside (hold on)” which concerns dentistry, pop Buddhism, and finding home.
Cereal and Hypnotists – Postcard #93 {clickity click above or subscribe everywhere (see below)Bring your own magic: Cereal and Hypnotists – Postcard #93 (44MB, 29:08, mp3, stereo)
Also, express my fondness for this particular inclusive & unique campaign for including lesser-heard poetic voices aside from the usual gamut of MFAs (no disrespect to you graduates, it’s just nice to have something a little bit different) plus the “entrance fee” of telling how you help your community
My little promo piece for the live reading More Blurb: I meant to run down a list of other poets who read or otherwise participated but well I wasn’t entirely prepared however I did manage to call the spectacular editor/publisher Kyle Hawke by slightly incorrect surname (Hawkes) while I was trying to complement him by mentioning how he treats all the poetry transcripts as they were lost works of James Joyce
And while fumbling and rolling hit into “Osaka Afternoon” with a dedication to Emily & Reb who have chimed in with kind words recently – written at the beginning of what eventually became my “Japan 2.0s” era 20+ years after my first foray into Japan working as a mushroom farmer in Tottori yet here I was in a completely new environment in all possible ways and facets of life yikes – regardless it’s called “Osaka Afternoon” as hadn’t revisited this poem for some time which was written in a time of tumult & confusion while diligently seeking a home it hit me quite hard feeling like my heart was flayed (or filleted) open with all my most raw emotions and confessions
Sigh yet the poet’s task is to channel emotions which might strike as universal and float the kinetic words out into the world – right?
So couldn’t quite end on that note so jump into (another) long-form confessional coming back from Indonesia closing off a chapter of a life with a conundrum in my otherwise lovely teeth feeling completely overwhelmed by the strain of “life” and celebrating the purposefulness of having items that can be evolved and curated into collections it’s not “stuff” it’s materiel to create more because the future is unwritten and history is made by people who write it down
Meandering through forms, I poke back at pop Buddhist riffs and dance around the joy of creation sort-ganizing – was submitted to the same Muriel’s Journey campaign in 2024 yet did not receive an accolade no big deal :-) called “smiling on the inside (hold on)” I think it is anyway
Whew finish with a bit of ukulele a lot more thanks adding in Neal who helped me prepare for the live stream, KK and his convening community at the planetarium, my dear penpal Monique, other people like Tamara with her bookshop (Western Sky) whom I forgot to mention
So hey there’s all of me sliced and diced as such a request to me your poems perhaps
After all as mentioned in one of the poems I’m home forever now – My address won’t change no more secret hideouts, just one safe house
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“Hand-crafted since 2005 | Field notes & poetry from splendid locales.”
Riffing about earthquake scars, zen temples, sea swims, scrapbooks, aliens, dinosaurs & 7″ records while rain falls in an engawa in Noto – a peninsula at the end of the world
wall of our quarters at the “fish house” in Noto, Ishikawa, JapanRain falls while i meander in real time memories the engawa—that in-between strip where house meets weather—inside a former fish-processing shed turned home at the ragged edge of the Noto Peninsula.
Since the New Year’s earthquake, the village is a collage of blue X’s, empty lots, demolition crews, and stubborn rebuilds. We slosh barefoot on warped floors, watch puddles ripple toward the fish auction, and listen for trucks and tide.
Sensei keeps his laboratory of samples and skeletons (yes, a whale skeleton in the rafters), Fukushima bark slides for spectral readings, and the old stories that refuse to leave.
Meanwhile, we practice indoor camping, brew tea, and make scrapbooks as Ichiro eyes the water and fireworks.
Stories from the road: the once-grand Maizuru, a chaotic tea shop and a spotless wagashi counter; a minshuku near Fukui’s Dinosaur Museum; a temple founded by Dōgen; a punk-sticker-covered shrine; and a roadside trove of antiques where a musician gifts an Edo-era samurai saké cup and a signed 1970 seven-inch record.
A postcard from the edge—loss and rebuilds, small kindnesses, and the quiet work of carrying on for the Olson O-bon Onsen Ocean roadtrip, Aug. 2025
“Noto Roadtrip Diary – Postcard #92” from Postcards from Gravelly Beach by Dave Thorvald OlsonSit in the engawa for: Noto Roadtrip Diary – Postcard #92
(46MB, 29:53, mp3, stereo)
Bonus: Noto Fish Market and Ankou fish butchering
from our quarters at Hongo sensei’s Meiji era “fish house” to the Noto port and the edge of the worldAlong the road, we pass through:
– Maizuru, a once-grand “Grand Hotel” town now shuttered and wistful
– a chaotic tea shop and a spotless wagashi counter
– a minshuku near Fukui’s Dinosaur Museum
– a temple founded by Dōgen, where I meet a calligrapher pilgrim
– a tiny shrine plastered in punk stickers (shout-out to Ramen, the one-man Ramones tribute)
– an antique trove where I find a working Sony Walkman, an Edo-era samurai saké cup, and a signed 1970 seven-inch from the shopkeeper’s own band
There are beach coffees, rotating bridges, and rain that turns August into a sauna.
when you meet greatnessSubscribeAuto-magically receive Postcard from Gravelly Beach podcast, via:
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“Hand-crafted since 2005 | Field notes & poetry from splendid locales.”
Poems on hotel letterhead, resplendent with stamps – crafted in mountains, on tracks and seas, while finding ways to be lost, avoiding pirates and ghosts, bouncing – from pastoral Lower Canada across radio waves to a provincial caboose in Japan, onward to find you, you alone
Items, forgotten: featuring A. McLuhanPoems on hotel letterhead resplendent with stamps crafted in mountains, on tracks and seas, finding ways to be lost, avoiding pirates and ghosts, bouncing from pastoral Lower Canada across radio waves to a provincial caboose in Japan, onward to find you.
Read by punk rock guitarist, hockey dad, art theater projectionist, wordplay/visual poet, keeper of Inscriptorium & wrangler of The McLuhan Institute, Andrew McLuhan on his show “the spoken word” on county FM radio,, audio file harvested by Brad Rees
Slow rolling Postcards from Gravelly Beach poetry pods, handcrafted since 2005 all from the very depths of my wee heart
The collection read in pod is excerpts from “Items Forgotten” which has 10 volumes (Disguise, Ramble’d, Time Traveler, Hubris, Circumnavigation, Espionage, Resistor, Reinvention) + some i forgot – crafted on letterhead, wrought in Himalayan Vedic solace, Arabian pirate seas, Malay traintracks & Mediterranean meanders
Available all the podcast places, I think so anyway, and of course at my creative life archive for your enjoyment and convenience
And I might as well tell you I’ve got a few more communications queued up
Bounce off ionosphere: Items Forgotten on Spoken Word Radio – Postcard #91
(32MB, 21:52, mp3, stereo)
Along the way, I produced a series of visual freeverse poetry called “Items: Forgotten in Drawers“ – part pirate treasure map, part meanderings stashed in a non-secret hiding place, part punk rock handbills. Crafted at an Ayurvedic clinic the Himalayas, a ship in Arabia and ruins around Mediterranean, then attached to vintage hotel letterhead acquired from at a Greek Monastery store Montreal neighbourhood, assembled in off-strip Las Vegas, shared in Utah canyons… and now distributed to points unknown. Further batches were assembled on Nusa Ceningan, Indonesia with scraps printed here and there.
So much more to say about all of this but for now, you can investigate the originals “Items Forgotten in drawers” on 6 or so collections (Disguise, Ramble’d, Time Traveler, Hubris, Circumnavigation, Espionage, Resistor):, here’s a blurb:
``` Along the way, I produced a series of visual freeverse poetry called “Items: Forgotten in Drawers“ - part pirate treasure map, part meanderings stashed in a non-secret hiding place, part punk rock handbills.
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Back Story
The poems started in an Ayurvedic clinic the Himalayas, a ship in Arabia and ruins around Mediterranean, then attached to vintage hotel letterhead acquired from a tiny Greek Monastery store in (a heavily Hasidic neighbourhood) Montreal neighbourhood, assembled in off-strip Las Vegas, shared in Utah canyons... and now distributed to points unknown. Further batches were assembled on Nusa Ceningan, Indonesia with scraps printed here and there. -
Process
Sometimes, i don't have a printers, other times Internet, often no typewriter so i make do with what i have: scissors, glue, paper...
When i write, (usually) starts as scribbles in notebooks and then gets hastily transcribed into a digital form and printed when opportunity strikes for editing - in this case, the editing leaves errors in typing and structure and instead cuts and pastes (like Burroughs to Bowie would do) and then reassembled in various ways.
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Form
Each substrate (hotel letterhead, aerogramme, envelope, shown is uniquely augmented with stamps – both postal and ink – and other ephemera, carefully selected and then applied as though it wasn't. Sometimes, lettraset letters, fuzzy Lomo photos and bits of typewriter come along. -
Themes
Overall, the pieces explore themes of wandering lost, losing self and others, scraping beneath the crust of culture and myth, remixing identity, connecting the history to the present in all it’s vagaries, and considering what becomes of our story when we vanish... naturally made with affection. ``` Post boxes and hotels, also beaches but not all at once in this case
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-
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Follow along:
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“Hand-crafted since 2005 | Field notes & poetry from splendid locales.”
```
“Raise your antenna high for today's transmission. Bounces off the very underbelly of the solar system. Originating from a public radio station in Prince Edward County, Ontario, and relayed through an unlicensed transmission depot at Tsuchida, Okayama, Japan, and then onwards to your delightful ears wherever you might be.
This comes an excerpt of the spoken word presented by Andrew McLuhan. If you recognize his name, perhaps you'll know the lineage of which he carries, of his father, Eric, and grandfather, Marshall, and he now is a media theorist, for lack of a better term, as well as a projectionist at the local arts theater. He's a hockey dad, a punk rock guitarist, and the keeper of the Inscriptorium, occasionally dispatches come of marginalia and annotations from an epic, in the truest sense of the word, library.
If you are someone who cares about the information about information, well, please attenuate accordingly. He's also the curator, the captain, the wrangler of the McLuhan Institute, TMI.
These days, he rambles widely around the globe, presenting to audiences of all sorts, telling them about what the future looks like, because he knows, because he pays careful attention to the past, and observes[…]”
```
Riffs about the glory of journals, diaries, notebooks full of musings and importance of turning off inner-critic and not overthinking while savoring the process of transcription, curation and further creative wonderment from Kura barn in provincial Japan. With evidence with my own process. Plus sorta re-cap how far I got about Circumnavigation poetry book project, … Continue reading “Personal Archeology” – Postcard #88 (+ via audio &/or video) →
Washing dishes and busted spectacles lead to rowing a lake in Nepal figuring out deity, enlightenment, peace and power with choruses fresh from diaries – plus Royal hospitals, poetic devices and question mark eyebrows. Your turn Buddha, your turn. Don’t climb the mountain: Nepal Stupa Choruses – Postcard #87(39MB, 21:02, 256kbps mp3, stereo) Consider Perusing: … Continue reading Nepal Stupa Choruses – Postcard #87 →
Let’s not lose each other amidst the table cloth being pulled out from under glasses and dishes. Meaning: some technical jibber-jabber about claiming feeds sparks a history of these sporadic, occasional (yet somehow charming, right?) literary dispatches from hand-written XML to various blogs and feeds and meanderings. Plus, about me! My name is Dave Olson … Continue reading Indulge Me, Logistically – Postcard #86 →
Thinking about “going home in October” or even more, going far away from home via freeverse poetry, read directly from scribbled travel scrapbooks and backed by trains from Moncton to Sri Lanka and tuk tuks from Kerala and Thailand, by a weary fella in an olden barn in provincial Japan. Fondly home. Be Lost at … Continue reading Lost the Plot (Finding Home) – Postcard #85 →
A heart-wrenching poem about an abducted boy called Simon – who lived nearby, was my age and sorta looked like me – in Surrey, BC 1982 – by the “Beast of BC” Clifford Robert Olson (NO relation). Recorded and contributed to Dark Poutine Canadian True Crime podcast – shared here for posterity etc. RIP Simon and the … Continue reading Simon, Stolen, Shame – Postcard #84 →
Along his namesake trail on banks of Lynn Creek comes story of Group of 7 bohemian painter Frederick Varley’s 10 wild years in Vancouver teaching and founding art schools, developing new aesthetics and shacking up in an $8 mountain home with mistress. Bring your own brushes: Upon the Varley Trail – Postcard #83 (30MB, 20:50, mp3, … Continue reading Upon the Varley Trail – Postcard #83 →
Analog loops, guitars, feedback and poetry about impossible alleys, 8 seat bars, villages with book shops, woolen scarves, Fado, Kathmandu mud, and umbrellas thwarting tactility. Made by “Thorvald and Thurston” in a Provo basement, 2018 Read along: Rainy Mystery Alley poem Available via: iTunes Spotify Soundcloud Ggle Play Consider Perusing: Exhibit: Beat Museum & environs … Continue reading Rainy Mystery Alley (with Marty) →
Love in (most) all forms – from self to romance to heartbreak – explored through poems including: mis-quote from (probably not) Jack Kerouac, Khalil Gibran advising his son, Mary Oliver reminding to trust, (Angela) Anaïs (Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira) Nin’s recklessness, Leonard Cohen recalling flowers to a shy lover, Katie Buemann picking up a sword – plus … Continue reading What Love Might Be… – Postcard #82 →
Full of mis-spoken words, forgotten names and other sloppiness comes annotated thoughts (squished through time and space) for shut-ins, drifters and sufferers amidst erstwhile festive melancholy times of disruption and tumult, including poems – read alongside mosquito and rooster sounds – by: Sohaib Ahmed Alan Halsey Charles Bukowski David Smalley Kat Code Dave Olson John … Continue reading Transient Cultural Riffs – Postcard #81 →
Upon turning 70 years old, Dave’s dear sensei (since a teenage Utah community college stint), Larry Harper (among various monikers) curated 70 items of advice (at request of Annie Dandelion). As such, between licks by Grateful Dead and master potter Marty Kendall, he riffs the list – ranging from practical to mystical to almost comical, … Continue reading Sensei Larry’s Wisdom – Postcard #80 →
Float to Istanbul, Muscat and elsewhere, and check in with Cleopatra, Shakespeare, Francis Drake, Shah of Persia, Adam, Cain, Abel, Lawrence, Ataturk, Czars Nicholas and Alexander, Matt Harding, Russia oligarchs, well-fed stray cats, unidentified shortwave broadcasts, Abraham, Norman, Matt Harding, rowers, drummers, a blonde dog and you and me… finding the edges of the globe. … Continue reading A Circumnavigation of Sorts – Postcard #79 →
Disappearing, invisibility, loneliness, depression, anxiety, being lost, trying to not be found, trying to find white space to invigorate… Sometimes these weave together, other times (perhaps) each remain exclusive. Gord Downie, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski and me all try to figure out the nuance in different ways atop Turkish street music, trains from Kerala and … Continue reading Disappearing for Invigoration – Postcard #78 →
In hospital with sedated Grandpa, Dave reads complete “Letters from Russia” epistolary literature project with frequent interruptions from visitors, nurses and medical apparatus. The letters address issues of class, revolutions, monarchy, war, trade, and love in the context of Napoleon’s foray into Russia in 1812 through letters from a cobbler to his fiancé in Paris. … Continue reading Hospital Letters and Flames – Postcard #77 →
Puffing along a trail recounting leaving cold, miserable London en route to post-hurricane Florida with flashbacks to working in Rheinplatz grade fields, gathering chestnuts to sell for beer and bread money, strange encampments at Oktoberfest, and hitchhiking to Amsterdam with gaggle of pals. To London by ferry and rapid exit via cheap flight Florida, quickly … Continue reading Forward Momentum to Florida – Postcard #76 →
Amidst a thunderstorm at 4AM on a balcony in Chiang Mai, Dave discusses – with excessive frankness and emotion – various medical conundrums (Fibromyalgia and CFS-ME) and details the physical feelings of “crash mode” as well as the mental strain in dealing with self de-identification and inter-personal relationships, confusion in seeking help, and various … Continue reading Thunderstorms in the Crash Years – Postcard #75 →
Ship-to-shore transmissions with shortwave broadcasts from elusive listening posts, soundscapes from slow ships, and freeverse poetry about unanswered communiques, transitory conditions, arbitrary citizenships, invented geography, de-identification, and intentional disappearance. Features music: “Dream World” by Matt Harding from NYOSSS (New York, Orem, San Sebastian, & Shanghai), plus various shortwave broadcasts of dubious origin, and sound samples … Continue reading Listening to Sea – Postcard #74 →
On a forgotten forest walk, Dave riffs a story about first trip to Europe – starting with trying not to puke over an Amsterdam bridge after a meeting new temporary coffee shop pals – with flashback to Mexican desert trips with Grandpa, LSD trips with VW bus-fixing pals, and family Grateful Dead road trip to … Continue reading Eyes Towards Europe – Postcard #73 →
Paying poetic respects to recently deceased Grandpa in a rainforest with Walt Whitman, Charles Baudelaire, Chief Dan George and original works inspired by the globe rambling, oddly charming, big fish – while official funeral happening elsewhere. Originally recorded: May 13, 2006 Sit on a tree by the river: (Poetic Farewell to) Ole Dead Gramps – Postcard … Continue reading (Poetic Farewell to) Ole Dead Gramps – Postcard #72 →
First reflecting on Funiculars, Dave then reads works by poet friends from far-flung points including: Sohaib Ahmed recounting escaped love and lights, Adam Burningham examining towns atop streams, Amber Case on a languid roadtrip, and Robert Scales appreciating a sunrise and oblivion – plus music by guitarist Matt Harding and a rainstorm, crickets and cicadas from … Continue reading Friendly Dehli Wanders – Postcard #71 →
Returning to Japan for the first time since working as a mushroom farmer in the Tottori-ken mountains decades previous, Dave rambles on about the circumstance – then and now – while wandering near his pal’s goat farm. Riffs include: arriving in the snow and getting settled, bailing on job, hitch-hiking around islands, falling in love(ish), eating … Continue reading A Return to Nippon – Postcard #70 →
What becomes of the seemingly ephemeral creations we leave behind? Especially in the analog-days? Consider these in the context of missing cassette tapes made by a now departed poet/activist/scholar Foster and guitar-ing Mikael, who recorded spontaneous youthful riffs in parent’s basement in Utah. In this postcard, Mikael Lewis sings “Wildflower (for Foster)” written by Dave in … Continue reading Preserving the Wildflower – Postcard #69 →
Changing routes to think about the neighbourhoods – this Postcard is about rolling transit, everyplace and anywhere. Evidence comes in a transit route inspired spoken-word song and a smattering of poems including: odes to drivers, forgotten literary neighbourhoods, angry passengers, observed newspapers around Vancouver… plus a bit of Clayton the busker in the Seabus tunnel … Continue reading Changing Transit Routes – Postcard #68 →
Amongst Nepal’s western Himalaya mountains comes poems about donkey trains hauling supplies, buffalos giving milk, porters hauling excess for misguided dreamers, monks with timeless chants, sunrise over mighty peaks, prayer wheels alongside trails to evoke the feeling of clambering along ancient stone paths shared with goats and farmers growing rice, lentils and children taking cold … Continue reading Annapurna’s Holy Donkeys – Postcard #67 →
Life in hotels, wandering alone and often blue and then the death of friends all converge in a series of poems including a song by Mikael Lewis about waiting for love in a Victorian hotel. Then, from the streets of Rome with a cappuccino comes a series about departed Rod H. Ash, including “Time Traveller” … Continue reading Lonely Cold Water Flat – Postcard #66 →
When I was growing up, Dad often spoke of his Chevy Malibu SS – his favourite car. So, while on his death bed, I asked him to tell the story. He speaks about acquiring the vehicle, the budget, the deal, the financing terms and oh, also about the car and how he enjoyed having a … Continue reading Dad’s Malibu Super Sport – Postcard #65 →
In tumultuous and confusing times, optimism and activism are the powerful antidotes for cynicism and fear. Two Bills share songs to assist in making this point. First B/William Lenker plays a spontaneous Squatters in Zion from his Steamboat Island woodshop, then Dave spiels about courageous – and sadly deceased Olympian – Rachel Corrie, followed by Billy … Continue reading Leaping Beyond Cynicism – Postcard #64 →
From an olden church and (otherwise vacant) cenotaph at Fort Cochin, Kerala, India, Dave O – acknowledging an extended medical and death related hiatus – discusses the local history of colonization by Portuguese explorers, Dutch traders, then British Raj in the context of the colonization leading to exploitation, conscription and war with no meaning to … Continue reading Remembrance Day with Vasco’s Bones – Postcard #63 →
Poet Randall Maggs discusses his book “Night Work” about the troubled soul of legendary hockey goalie Terry Sawchuk plus the nuances of story-telling, conversations with goaltenders, Sawchuk’s Ukrainian heritage and convergence of history and hockey with host Dave Thorvald Olson at the Robson Square covered outdoor rink in Vancouver following a poetry reading promoted by … Continue reading Poetic Stories about Goalies – Postcard #62 →
In the last narrative from the Clayquot trip in Summer 2006, the water ban is lifted and Uncle Weed discuses the economic costs caused by the shutdown as well as the tensions about tourist based economy and village lifestyle, considers ingredients for positive development, and tries to resolve some conundrums by evoking Henry David Thoreau … Continue reading A Little Bit Better … if not Perfect – Rainforest Dispatches, chapter 9/9 →
Sometimes all the bits which don’t fit make the tastiest morsels. With this in mind, Uncle Weed dishes up a smorgasbord of leftover spiels, intros, set-ups, and observations from the Clayoquot trip including narrative about camptime beverages, glass pipe cleaning tips, local sticky nuggets, eagles flying amongst the Broken Islands, historic Pacific lighthouse, skateboard contests at Tough … Continue reading Field Notes on Bevvies, Birds and Bowls – Rainforest Dispatches, chapter 8/9 →
On Remembrance Day in sunny, brisk Vancouver, Ian Bell (fresh from a CBC appearance “On The Coast“) joins Dave to read from Grandpa Mark’s diaries written in the trenches in WW1 as a young Canadian. From the library steps with a flask of scotch, they reflect on the costs and motivations of war, importance of … Continue reading Vimy Ridge Diaries on Remembrance Day – Postcard #61 →
Visiting again with friend Kevin, Uncle Weed discusses the negative impact salmon fish farms impart on the local aquaculture. Specifically, Atlantic salmon living in pens attract hazardous sea lice, are unable to spawn, are fed with small fish imported from South America, and are dyed to appear more attractive in the supermarket. Further the politically … Continue reading Salmon Swimming Free – Rainforest Dispatches, chapter 7/9 →
At the headquarters of Friends of Clayoqout Sound advocacy organization, Uncle Weed talks with Kevin Bruce, a concerned citizen newly arrived in Tofino to work as the office coordinator for the FOCS. With the sound of passing cars and buses, they discuss the economics of logging, stumpage fees, value of wilderness, conundrums of interconnectedness and … Continue reading Friends of the Sound – Rainforest Dispatches, chapter 6/9 →
After a few days of frustration and confusion, Uncle Weed sits down on the trail and digs into a variety of essays from Beloved of the Sky by Gary Snyder, Howie Wolk, and Michael Frome plus riffs on painter Emily Carr, love/hate with the commercialized Wild Pacific trail, shore pines, lighthouses, volcanic outcroppings, leaning trees, … Continue reading Conservation and Clearcuts – Rainforest Dispatches, chapter 5/9 →
While watching fishing boats ply the inlet, Uncle Weed checks in from Ucluelet to describe the cultural and municipal differences between neighboring villages of Tofino and Ucluelet after a thwarted drive towards Kennedy Lake bridge – the scene of the blockades – and examines Ucluelet’s ballyhooed reaction to Tofino’s shortage through the eyes of locals … Continue reading Spieling from Whiskey Dock – Rainforest Dispatches, chapter 4/9 →
After recalling beach camp-outs, rainy days and salmon feasts, Uncle Weed finds out commercial water usage is banned in Tofino and closing down for the tourist operations for the busy weekend ~ thusly he sets out on the trail from Half Moon Bay to Wickaninnish Bay to discover what’s up. Includes riffs and spiels about … Continue reading Tofino Dries up – Rainforest Dispatches, chapter 3/9 →
Out on a trail, Uncle Weed shares a few lessons learned bearing witness to the blockade lines including thoughts about non-violence and pacifism, importance of respecting others, and the common desire for trees which the ecologists and workers unwittingly share. Plus discourse on ways to replace economic gains from industrial logging with value-added finished products … Continue reading Meditations from the Blockades – Rainforest Dispatches, chapter 2/9 →
Arriving at a campground between the towns of Tofino and Ucluelet, Uncle Weed sets out to explore the west coast’s unique environment and offer discourse on natural resource-based and tourism-based economies starting with recollections from the noted logging protests in the early 1990s with comments about blockade logistics from early morning pick-up trucks rides to … Continue reading Musings from Clayoquot Sound – Rainforest Dispatches, chapter 1/9 →
Introducing a series of explorations and soliloquies from the Clayoquot Sound area on the west coast of Vancouver Island during a summertime water outage in the midst of a temperate rainforest. While figuring out what happened, Uncle Weed recollects the tense logging blockades in early 1990s and compares current conditions through lens of deep ecology … Continue reading Observations about Ecology and Economy – Rainforest Dispatches, Introduction →
From a forested pathway along the open Pacific between Tofino and Ucluelet, DaveO reads poetry from Gary Snyder’s Myths + Texts and Rip Rap plus essays about Wobblies, timber-jacks, logging camp culture, and giant trees from Beloved of the Sky then the words Siddhartha the Buddha spoke upon achieving enlightenment. Strap on your boots for: Forests … Continue reading Forests and Oceans Without End – Postcard #60 →
Dave O spiels forth about the exploration of rivers and lakes, the impetus for ventures and motivations for trade ~ augmented by autoharp songs by Larry Harper dreaming of floating the Colorado River down Glen Canyon ~ then freeverse – mostly from stumbling around Europa in 1992 – thinking about connectedness, lifespans of mysteries and … Continue reading Owl Creek Limnology and Exploration – Postcard #59 →
By a campfire on Owl Creek, Dave reads an instructional guide to hitch-hiking about a November trip from South Carolina to Rhode Island with a series of tips including smiling, signs, watches, and going with the flow while Dan Funboy noodles on guitar. Stick your thumb out for: Three Days and Eleven Dollars, Nov. 1991 – … Continue reading Three Days and Eleven Dollars, Nov. 1991 – Postcard #58 →
While summertime camping alongside Owl Creek and charging the recorder with the rays of the sun, Dave reads a short story written while on the road with ole dead Grandpa called “So the Legends Go” – a portrait of life one morning in Navajo Nation in 1987 – accompanied by adolescent observations and musings. Accompanied … Continue reading Arizona with Ole Gramps – Postcard #57 →
From Halfmoon Bay on Vancouver Island, Dave gives it up for zen poet hero Gary Snyder and recounts beat history from The Old Ways and logging culture from Myths and Texts plus poems about hitchhiking, girls, baths, clearcuts and the Buddha plus original freeverse poetry.
Alongside raging Lynn Creek, Dave remarks about boulders which are indeed interesting as the sign pointed out, then reads a haibun about books and statues on a curly maple shelf, and poems about buying hardware and fruit in Bucerias, mysterious curves and clouds, and solace for weary delirious travellers, while Wm. Lenker sings the traditional … Continue reading Chronicling Interesting Boulders – Postcard #55 →
From a skunk-scented perch along Mosquito Creek, Dave spiels about feverish dreams in a Mexican clinic, personal archeology, mirages about the Wonder Hotel, and reads verse about late trains, dammed rivers, watching ships, and men in white coats walking past. Take your vitamins for: Post-apocalyptic Skunks and Fevers – Postcard #54 (128k mp3, 16:35, 15MB) Read … Continue reading Post-apocalyptic Skunks and Fevers – Postcard #54 →
Visiting the Woodshop on Steamboat Island amidst hayfever and national holidays, Dave and Wm. Lenker exchange spontaneous musical freeverse tales of Pennsylvania, Agana Harbour (Guam), Jericho Beach (Vancouver), and Lake Crescent (Washington) while wounded Samson howls along. Weigh anchor for: Howling at Land and Sea – Postcard #53 (128k mp3, 17:51, 16MB) Note: Photo by DaveO on … Continue reading Howling at Land and Sea – Postcards #53 →
In a collection of transitory reminiscences, Dave O rolls on from rainy North Van by taxi down venerable Granville St. down the spine of to YVR with indigenous dioramas. Then travels by plane to Gatwick Airport, continuing via train to Victoria Station, then by another taxi to Piccadilly Circus passing notable London sites along the … Continue reading Taxi Flashbacks Towards Gatwick – Postcard bonus →
From a Lougheed skyscraper comes an improvisational reading with guitars – first more ocean-inspired works from Tristan Corbière, Victor Hugo and Dave Olson into a freeform spoken word account of trip down the Pacific Coast highway to a haunted roadhouse with sequoias growing an inch a day. Roust yerself for: Skyscraper Stories about Oceans and Forests … Continue reading Skyscraper Stories about Oceans and Forests – Postcard #52 →
Stamp your envelope for: Letters from Russia on Santa Cruz Free Radio (.mp3, 57:07, 26MB) Blurb DJ Snailmail and DJ Anon discuss Letters from Russia with writer Dave Thorvald Olson on the “WriteNow! The Art & Action of Letterwriting” show, Dec. 2007 on Santa Cruz Free Radio – low-power unlicensed station – also streaming live. … Continue reading Letters from Russia on “Write Now!” show – Santa Cruz Free Radio (2007) →
Starting at the Steamboat Island Woodshed, Dave rambles salty original freeverse with Wm. Lenker on banjo and traces personal poetic lineage winding through French impressionalist/symbolist and Brittany sea-coaster Tristan Corbière (prefaced by Victor Hugo). Then – as sleet, slush and hail beats down on the Mosquito Creek studio skylight – rolls into the beat American … Continue reading Banjo Sea Shanties and Beat Train Rambles – Postcard #51 →
An aural montage of past new years’ evenings featuring Dave O reading from Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” next to crackling cabin woodstove on Pender Island (note scratching dog and someone with a stuffy nose), followed by a latenight freeverse message to Napoleon, a languid tale recorded in a garage about a bewildering New … Continue reading Poetic Ghosts of New Years Past – Postcard #50 →
Wrapping up the White Poppies for Remembrance series with a narrative late-night wander through Westminster, London, DaveO meanders past military monuments, victory squares, cenotaphs, palaces, royal parks, war museum, war chambers, riot fences, war protesters, churches, parliament and finishing at St. James park for a sitdown under a weeping willow to consider monarchy, individual rights … Continue reading Meandering Past Monuments of Remembrance – Postcards #49 →
Back home on the North Vancouver porch, Dave reads from Clay Mcleod’s essay Why I Don’t Wear a Poppy while sending peace and resistance towards the decent lieutenant Magnum in Iraq and the Philippines along with earnest comrades at arms and peaceful strangers in war torn lands. Plus he admonishes the Canadian Legion for blocking … Continue reading Peace to Soldiers and Strangers – Postcard #48 →
A story about Iraqi resistance fighters and their personal motivations by a young writer called Waiting in Baghdad is the crux of the next White Poppies for Remembrance episode – read from the homeporch with a Welsh mining lantern and firetrucks rolling past. Written by Chris K, a player on a dave-coached in-line hockey team … Continue reading Waiting (and Resisting) in Baghdad – Postcard #47 →
Taking a Remembrance Day respite to enjoy a conscious discussion with ‘Trigger’ at Vancouver’s New Amsterdam Cafe, Dave O listens to the consequences and conditions of space, in tangible and gestalt senses, and reviews the paradigm shifts of Vancouver’s downtown Eastside ‘four corners’ – once one of the grandest intersections in the British Empire. Later, … Continue reading (Meta)Physical Conditions of the Environment – Postcard #46 →
Part 6 of the “White Poppies for Remembrance” series considers the opportunity cost of the lost human potential while at the Victory cenotaph in downtown Vancouver – along the way, troubadours sing about Providence, Joyful(ness) along with spontaneous percussion-scapes and city bus brakes. DaveO examines the value of life with Gord Downie‘s swift deconstructions of … Continue reading Awakening to the Dawn of Potential – Postcard #45 →
Part 5 of the White Poppies for Remembrance series continues with Dave at Victory Park, this time reading the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted by General Assembly Dec. 10th, 1948) with riffs about tolerance, human relations, common understanding, and mutual respect – including a healthy sampling of articles on brotherhood, privacy, special … Continue reading Righteous Declarations for Humans – Postcard #44 →
Finding Victory Square in post-ceremony calm, Dave settles onto a bench for lost sailors with some bagpipers to chat about John Macrae’s “Flander’s Field” poem and mull the tension between remembering noble effort and embracing jingoistic behaviour. This conundrum is evident in snippets of an essay by Stephen Osborne – The Poem and the Poppy – … Continue reading Pondering Flanders at the Cenotaph – Postcard #43 →
Part 3 of the White Poppies for Remembrance series (recorded Nov. 2006) features reading from the Dhammapada by Siddhartha Gautama while waiting for the Seabus heading towards Victory Square. Along the way, Dave talks about conscientious objection and military service evaders in Canada, mercy and the state of the downtown eastside. Page France sings Chariot, … Continue reading Buddhas in the Trenches – Postcard #42 →
Part 2 of the White Poppies for Remembrance series finds Dave O eating oatmeal in North Van before heading downtown Vancouver to check in on Remembrance Day remembering activities. While having a bite to eat, he explains the mission of the White Poppies for Peace (a Peace Pledge Union project) folks based in the UK … Continue reading White Poppies on a Rainyday Coat – Postcard #41 →
Down on Lenker’s farm, Dave O checks in on the animal inventory and riffs his own freeverse poetry about canyon exploration, a groaning generation, and tense search for authenticity and truth – all re-mixed with Bill’s Pennsylvanian poetics about frost heaves and nurturing life accompanied with his salty guitar jamble. Then, in the woodshed, Dave … Continue reading Geological Storytime with Sheep – Postcard #40 →
Embarking on a White Poppies for Remembrance Day series, Dave reads the role of King Agamemnon from the Oresteia by Aeschylus written in the 6th century BC. The King returns to Argos by chariot, with a captured royal concubine in tow, and tales of plunder and pillage after defeating Troy… and is then met by … Continue reading Vanquishing Grecian Warlords – Postcard #39 →
Busting out a bit of original (un)sung freeverse with guitar-toting pal Bread, a shaker egg, and a stack of freeverse – fortified with improvisational bits about the mortar holding the middle of bricks, leaping over hedges, waiting for airplanes and diesels downshifting and being … so tired but sometimes so inspired bewildered and in love … Continue reading Improvising Over Hedges – Postcards #38 →
Continuing on with Kerouac’s San Francisco Blues, DaveO strolls down The Mission reading Jack’s choruses written on the same street in 1954 while observing butter trucks, museums and tolling bells, then listening to Clayton the Seabus busker sing about going home. Pedestriate carefully for: San Francisco Mission Stroll with Jack – Postcard #37 (128k mp3, 11:32, … Continue reading San Francisco Mission Stroll with Jack – Postcard #37 →
In San Francisco on an early morning stroll sporting a French-curled tie, Dave performs contemporary reconnaissance of an intersection described by Jack Kerouac in San Francisco Blues and discusses Kerouac’s motivations and system for creating these Blues poems. Geographically speaking, the additional observations include bridge commuters, urine puddles, hot dog and motorcycle tire shops, beer-signed … Continue reading Kerouac Choruses at Third and Harrison – Postcard #36 →
Along with Mr. Lenker of Steamboat Island and his guitar, large hounds and varied livestock, Dave reads poems “Refined, Not Created” and “Aye Carpathia,” while Bill sings about the “Man with a Rebel Soul” – followed by reading of “This and That” with guitar improvisation… from deep in the woodshop studio. To the boats for: … Continue reading Sea Rescue Spontaneity from the Woodshop – Postcard #35 →
Dave reads a smattering from Gary Snyder, Jack Kerouac and original verse written in Germany in 1992, joined by Trauben the hitchhiking acupuncturist (who toils to understand a Welsh miner’s lantern), the lads chat about flowing chi, Cascade mountain lookouts the author as a young writer while attempting to communicate with racoons – possibly bearing … Continue reading Lanterns for Welsh Miners – Postcard #34 →
Dave checks in with the words of Chinese literature aficionado Lu Ji with his notes on the writer’s craft after a recent batch of related inspiring events including a Dalai Lama visit, plus Chinese medicinal tea from Dr. Wu and the works of Gary Snyder, then ends with a live track called Helicopters by The Stills. Boil … Continue reading Tea with Chinese Masters – Postcard #33 →
Continuing from the corner garden in the unnamed park, Dave reads from French symbolist (and hopeless romantic) Charles Baudelaire who continues with Joseph Conrad themes of ships, youth and beauty with a piece called “The Beautiful Ship” before gracefully giving way to a song by The Black Tories. Board the vessel for: Baudelaire Considers Ships, … Continue reading Baudelaire Considers Ships, Youth and Beauty – Postcard #32 →
Dave reads from Joseph Conrad’s “Youth: A Narrative” from the community garden in the park with no name near Cambie-land, Vancouver and meanders on about riding trains, steamer ships, expansive seas and erstwhile adventures while immersed in foreign culture and ends with a bit of a seascape tune from an original piece called “The Ferry … Continue reading Conrad’s Youthful Adventures from an Unnamed Park – Postcard #31 →
On a North Van hillside, Dave reads a few choruses from Jack Kerouac’s “San Francisco Blues” and talks about “Ti Jean’s” writing life, including his dexterous style and notable substance – plus expresses affection for Vancouver and the joys of rediscovery. Dream of moonlight for: Kerouac’s San Francisco in Dave’s Vancouver – Postcard #30 (.mp3, … Continue reading Kerouac’s San Francisco in Dave’s Vancouver – Postcard #30 →
At Granville Island Market on a breezy spring day, Dave talks about Czech/German/French writer Rainer Maria Rilke and reads from Letter # 10 from “Letters to a Young Poet,” plus offers discourse about the writing life, dealing with creative conditions and personal honesty – plus chats about the charming Vancouver False Creek waterfront. Gaze into … Continue reading Rilke’s Letters at a Breezy Island Market – Postcard #29 →
A personal stirring moment, recorded for Grandpa, Robert Louis Stevenson (RIP) on the windy banks of the Columbia River featuring Walt Whitman’s “To You” – read whilst sitting under a weeping sage tree with toiling barges, endless trains and snowy Mt. Hood in the distance. Watch the river roil for: Whitman on the Windy Columbia … Continue reading Whitman on the Windy Columbia – Postcard #28 →
Rather raw, first sampling from the Shelter Crescent session featuring Brad Rees playing electric guitar while I talk and yodel my way around some freeverse – seems to be thinking about waiting for a red-headed girl in San Francisco while drinking at an unwelcome bar. Peek through the curtains for: Red-headed Girl in San Francisco … Continue reading Red-headed Girl in San Francisco from Shelter Cove – Postcard #27 →
Contemplating the edge of the (then known to Western folks) Earth with Henry the Navigator in this sixth instalment of the Woodshed Session featuring Bill Lenker’s guitar stylings / singing and me wondering why he went out into the unknown instead of turning right (or even left). Sail into the unknown for: Henry Going to … Continue reading Henry Going to Galicia from the Woodshed – Postcard #26 →
The fifth Woodshed session choogles along with a free verse extravaganza with Bill Lenker playing on the guitar and singing in-betwixt as I spiel forth words, memories, ideas and rhymes – topics include George Washington bridge, Providence parks, postcards to friends, and going nowhere. No umbrella needed for: Curiosity in Rainstorms from the Woodshed – … Continue reading Curiosity in Rainstorms from the Woodshed – Postcard #25 →
The second Woodshed Session again features Bill Lenker on guitar and DaveO with free verse and lyrical snippets. This time, observations from a rainy night in Vancouver is the tangible topic – the intangibles are for you to determine. Watch your step on: Considering Vancouver Cobblestones from the Woodshed – Postcard #22 (4:34, 4MB, .mp3) … Continue reading Considering Vancouver Cobblestones from the Woodshed – Postcard #22 →
Go on a trip for this next Woodshed session, again Bill Lenker on guitar and singing, and Dave busting some narrative about items on a bookshelf and reminiscing about Caye Caulker, Belize. Runaway to a Caye for: Belize and Bookshelf Observations at the Woodshed – Postcard #24 (7:22, 7MB, .mp3) Artifacts, from Caye Caulker, Belize, … Continue reading Belize and Bookshelf Observations at the Woodshed – Postcard #24 →
Rolling along with the Woodshed Sessions, here’s number 3 … again Bill Lenker’s guitar and songwriting/singing skills along with my free verse and lyrical snippets – this time about lighthouses, aspen trees and an insinuated scandalous incident. Light the signal lamp for: Temporary Lighthouses from the Woodshed – Postcard #23 (7:50, 7MB, .mp3) A lighthouse … Continue reading Temporary Lighthouses from the Woodshed – Postcard #23 →
A postcard from (along with the next few) the Steamboat Island woodshed with Bill Lenker’s guitar and vocals (see Postcard #13) dove-tailing with original free verse and lyrical works – fortified with spontaneous word-i-fication. First up in this series comes Bill’s song combined with my semi-rhymey verses about riding trains through Cascadia. All aboard for: … Continue reading Cascadia Starlight in a Woodshed Session – Postcard #21 →
Out on a nighttime walk, Dave sits in the frosty grass under a tree, by a pond, with a Guinness and reads ‘post-modern’ stories by Murakami Haruki, Raymond Carver, Kelsye Nelson and himself, as well as offering up festivus gift ideas. Pour a sturdy one for: Short Fiction, Coincidentally about Drinking – Postcard #20 (21;20, … Continue reading Short Fiction, Coincidentally about Drinking – Postcard #20 →
From a snowy porch with raccoons chirping nearby, Dave reads from Richard Brautigan, Phillip Whalen, ee cummings, Walt Whitman plus his original free verse while enjoying Pernod and ginger-ale. Don a toque for: Snowy Nighttime Porch with Raccoons – Postcard #19 (14MB, 15:23, .mp3) Subscribe Auto-magically receive Postcard from Gravelly Beach podcast, via: PfGB RSS feed PfGB … Continue reading Snowy Nighttime Porch with Raccoons – Postcard #19 →
On a foggy morning with Osmanthus tea, Dave reads tales by professor Larry Harper – “The Man Who Loved Provo,” and his own “Right (as in Correctly)” plus a snippet from Natsume Soseki’s very wabi-sabi classic “Kokoro.” Be beautiful in decay for: A Wabi-Sabi, Foggy Morning – Postcard #18 (18:22, 17MB, .mp3) Subscribe Auto-magically receive Postcard … Continue reading A Wabi-Sabi, Foggy Morning – Postcard #18 →
With a head full of cold medicine, Dave reads a haibun poem for Remembrance day and then enjoys John Cairney reading from Robert Burns’ exploits and indiscretions in Edinburgh in a mighty brogue. Dof yer cap for: Robert Burns on Remembrance Day – Postcard #17 (17:04, 17MB, .mp3) Subscribe Auto-magically receive Postcard from Gravelly Beach podcast, … Continue reading Robert Burns on Remembrance Day – Postcard #17 →
On a rainy day in North Van, Dave – with strong coffee – reads two more “Letters from Russia” plus a breathy bit of Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Ring the bell for: Rainy Day with Letters and Tolling Bells – Postcard #16 (14:06, 13MB, .mp3) Subscribe Auto-magically receive Postcard from Gravelly Beach podcast, via: … Continue reading Rainy Day with Letters and Tolling Bells – Postcard #16 →
Dave – on a couch with red wine – reads short story snippets by Gordon Cavenaile and himself, plus a poem by John Barta and part of Hans Brinker to celebrate his new hockey skates. Lace ’em up for: Ice Skates and Vancouver Writers – Postcard #15 (.mp3, 16:46, 15MB) Subscribe Auto-magically receive Postcard from Gravelly … Continue reading Ice Skates and Vancouver Writers – Postcard #15 →
Dave – from a porch in Vancouver’s North Shore – dedicates his favourite part of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” to a friend, plus reads some of his own short story called “About Being Stabbed in the Forehead.” Open your head for: Streaming Consciousness from a North Shore Porch – Postcard #14 (.mp3, 9:32, 11MB) Subscribe Auto-magically … Continue reading Streaming Consciousness with Joyce from a North Shore Porch – Postcard #14 →
Dave starts the reading on a pier at Capitol lake and continues days later at Bill Lenker’s woodshed on Steamboat Island where he reads original free verse written in German countryside as well as works by French poet, Arthur Rimbaud. Cross the Atlantic for: German Countryside Verse and Rimbaud in Bill’s Steamboat Woodshed – Postcard #13 … Continue reading German Countryside Verse and Rimbaud in Bill’s Steamboat Woodshed – Postcard #13 →
DaveO – feeling relaxed – reads from Kerouac’s Some of the Dharma, Bukowski’s Barfly and some of his own love junk while Christopher provides guitar and vocal stylings from the backyard at the Puget house. Pull up a chair for: Barflys in the Backyard Reading Bukowski and Kerouac – Postcard #12 (12:09, .mp3, 11MB) Dave … Continue reading Barflys in the Backyard Reading Bukowski and Kerouac – Postcard #12 →
From Queen Elizabeth Park in beloved Vancouver, DaveO reads from J.D. Salinger’s “For Esme with Love and Squalor” and part of a “Letter from Russia”… until disc-golf hi-jinx ensue! Heads-up for: In Vancouver with Salinger and Disc-golf Hi-jinx – Postcard #11 (10:27, .mp3, 10MB) Subscribe Auto-magically receive Postcard from Gravelly Beach podcast, via: PfGB RSS feed … Continue reading In Vancouver with Salinger and Disc Golf Hi-jinx – Postcard #11 →
From a backyard in OlyWa, Dave reads from Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” and a bit of hitch-hike narrative of his own recounting a trip up from North Carolina to Rhode Island during a cold November – backed with more smoking jazz tracks by Joe Williamson and colleagues in Banff circa 1990. Stick out your … Continue reading Kerouac Rides West and Dave Hitches North – Postcard #10 →
Dave O reads a Utah writer variety pack from Pe Ell, Washington featuring Françios Camoin, Levi Peterson, and Ed Abbey (more Ed – interview and article in Canyon Country Zephyr) plus an original essay about Glen Canyon Dam. Then, Lewis and Clark check in from their homestretch after scoring some whiskey, and Dave enlists the … Continue reading Aerogrammes to Utah, St. Louis and the Gulf Coast – Postcard #9 →
In Volume 8, while in Pe Ell, WA, DaveO reads from Lewis and Clarks’ journals as they lose horses on Sept. 3rd, then Ed Abbey foretells the future in his modern classic, “Desert Solitaire”, then the Uncle Weed story continues with jovial demonstrations of eco-sabotage and desert enjoyment while camping with kids . Saddle up for: … Continue reading Lewis and Clark move west, Ed Abbey’s wisdom and Uncle Weed’s story – Postcard #8 →
In Volume 7, Dave, chilling with sake and smoking jazz tracks, reads from Jack Kerouac‘s “Lonesome Traveller,” “Mexico City Blues” and “American Haiku”; Gary Snyder from “The Backcountry”; and haiku from masters Issa Kobayashi and Basho; and finally his own original haiku and haibun. Chill out with: Kerouac in Mexico, Snyder in Japan and Jazz from … Continue reading Kerouac in Mexico, Snyder in Japan and Jazz from Banff – Postcard #7 →
In Volume six, DaveO sits with ducks at Olympia’s Capitol Lake on a windy day and reads from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “Confessions” and offers a bit of discourse on transparency, plus reads two more original “Letters from Russia” epistolary literature. Sit down for: Rousseau Confesses and more Letters from Russia – Postcard #6 (10:00, 11MB, mp3, … Continue reading Rousseau Confesses and more Letters from Russia – Postcard #6 →
In Volume five, DaveO hangs out in the dark at Olympia’s Seven Oars park and reads Part 2 of Uncle Weed’s Red Rock Adventure, chats about Edward Abbey, and reads from Ed’s “Desert Solitaire” (scored fresh from Olympia’s Last Word Books). https://archive.org/download/UncleWeedAndEdAbbeyHeadToCanyonlandsPostcard5/Uncle%20Weed%20and%20Ed%20Abbey%20head%20to%20Canyonlands%20-%20Postcard%20%235.mp3 Go into the canyons for Uncle Weed and Ed Abbey head to Canyonlands – … Continue reading Uncle Weed and Ed Abbey head to Canyonlands – Postcard #5 →
In Volume 4, DaveO reads from his own “Letters from Russia,” Leo Tolstoy’s epic “War and Peace” and a bit of French poetry while fumbling with pronunciation and enjoying a Guinness in the nighttime garden. https://archive.org/download/RussianEpicsFrenchPoemsAndIrishBeer-Postcard4/Russian%20Epics%2C%20French%20Poems%20and%20Irish%20Beer%20%E2%80%93%20Postcard%20%234.mp3 Wander along for Russian epics, French poems and Irish beer – Postcard #4 (19:22, 20MB, stereo, .mp3) Countryside, watercolour … Continue reading Russian Epics, French Poems and Irish Beer – Postcard #4 →
In Volume 3, Dave reads from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” and “Civil Disobedience” plus Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “100 Years of Solitude” and his own Portuguese Snapshots. https://archive.org/download/HDThoreauAndGGMarquezAlongForTheRide-Postcard3/HD%20Thoreau%20and%20GG%20Marquez%20Along%20for%20the%20Ride%20%E2%80%93%20Postcard%20%233.mp3 Hop a train for HD Thoreau and GG Marquez Along for the Ride – Postcard #3 (13:20, 14MB. stereo, .mp3) Snapshot: fishing boats at rest in Salema, Algarve, Portugal … Continue reading HD Thoreau and GG Marquez Along for the Ride – Postcard #3 →
Postcard #2 in which Dave reads from Gary Snyder’s “Left out in the Rain,” Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” and from original short story, “I Remember Florida.” https://archive.org/download/RememberingFloridaHeadingToJapanWanderingWithWaltPostcard2/Remembering%20Florida%2C%20Heading%20to%20Japan%2C%20Wandering%20with%20Walt%20-%20Postcard%20%232.mp3 Prepare yourself for Remembering Florida, Heading to Japan, Wandering with Walt – Postcard #2 (10MB, 11:06, .mp3, stereo) (this curious image was scavenged from the interweb, if someone takes … Continue reading Remembering Florida, Heading to Japan, Wandering with Walt – Postcard #2 →
In podcast Volume 1, DaveO reads from his original “Uncle Weed’s Red Rock Adventure” plus a snippet from Richard Brautigan’s “Trout Fishing in America” and introduces the spoken word literature show thusly: “Postcards from Gravelly Beach” is an occasionally-brewed podshow featuring spoken word with bits of literary discourse and maybe some tunes from time to … Continue reading Heading Out with Weed and Trout – Postcard #1 →