Tosh Berman's Blog, page 119

Tosh for ARTBOOK/D.A.P. on Jeff Divine Seventies Surf Photographs

Tosh on Jeff Divine 70s Surf Photography.  Ever since the Lockdown, I have been spending a serious amount of time studying Surf Culture for a project I'm working on.  Divine is a great photographer on both the surfer on the surfboard as well as portraits of surfers.  - Tosh Berman.

Songs of David Bowie by Chris O'Leary on Tosh Talks

Songs of David Bowie by Chris O'Leary on Tosh Talks



Two books (volumes) by Chris O'Leary that covers every song David Bowie released, as well as obscure b-sides, and recordings not released.  Remarkable information which makes these books essential to the Bowie Library. Here I give my thoughts on both books as well as my Bowie obsession. -Tosh Berman.

Tosh Talks: Tosh Growing Up in Wallace Berman's World (an introduction)

Joe Meek on Tosh Talks

Joe Meek on Tosh Talks

Joe Meek is without a doubt one of the intriguing figures that came out of contemporary music. A gay man who lived in London when it was illegal to have gay sex or even hinting of having a relationship with another man, very much lived in his working space on Holloway Road in North London. He didn't leave his flat/recording studio that much, as he was, at the time, focused on making recordings that to this day is revolutionary and profound, in the sense that he was probably one of the first DIY personalities in the recording world. On this episode of "Tosh Talks," I focus on three albums by The Meek planet. Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages, Heinz, and the brilliant "I Hear a New World" (1960) billed as Joe Meek and the Blue Men. I also commented on Brian Eno's "Another Green World" and how that is the little sister or brother to Meek's "I Hear a New World." A friend commented that Meek is the bridge between Les Paul and Phil Spector, but to me, as he was a non-musician, he used the recording studio as an instrument, similar to what Eno did years later. A remarkable sonic artist in an extraordinary era.

Jean Luc Godard Soundtrack Music on Tosh Talks

Tosh on Jean-Luc Godard, with a focus on the soundtrack music used in his films.

Tosh for ARTBOOK/D.A.P. on John Cage: A Mycological Foray

Tosh on John Cage: A Mycological Foray & Mushroom Book

The Trump Virus

“Chickenpox is a virus. Lots of people have had it, and probably don't think about it much once the initial illness has passed. But it stays in your body and lives there forever, and maybe when you're older, you have debilitatingly painful outbreaks of shingles. You don't just get over this virus in a few weeks, never to have another health effect. We know this because it's been around for years, and has been studied medically for years.Herpes is also a virus. And once someone has it, it stays in your body and lives there forever, and anytime they get a little run down or stressed-out they're going to have an outbreak. Maybe every time you have a big event coming up (school pictures, job interview, big date) you're going to get a cold sore. For the rest of your life. You don't just get over it in a few weeks. We know this because it's been around for years, and been studied medically for years.HIV is a virus. It attacks the immune system and makes the carrier far more vulnerable to other illnesses. It has a list of symptoms and negative health impacts that goes on and on. It was decades before viable treatments were developed that allowed people to live with a reasonable quality of life. Once you have it, it lives in your body forever and there is no cure. Over time, that takes a toll on the body, putting people living with HIV at greater risk for health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, bone disease, liver disease, cognitive disorders, and some types of cancer. We know this because it has been around for years, and had been studied medically for years.Now with COVID-19, we have a novel virus that spreads rapidly and easily. The full spectrum of symptoms and health effects is only just beginning to be cataloged, much less understood.So far the symptoms may include:FeverFatigueCoughingPneumoniaChills/TremblingAcute respiratory distressLung damage (potentially permanent)Loss of taste (a neurological symptom)Sore throatHeadachesDifficulty breathingMental confusionDiarrheaNausea or vomitingLoss of appetiteStrokes have also been reported in some people who have COVID-19 (even in the relatively young)Swollen eyesBlood clotsSeizuresLiver damageKidney damageRashCOVID toes (weird, right?)People testing positive for COVID-19 have been documented to be sick even after 60 days. Many people are sick for weeks, get better, and then experience a rapid and sudden flare up and get sick all over again. A man in Seattle was hospitalized for 62 days, and while well enough to be released, still has a long road of recovery ahead of him. Not to mention a $1.1 million medical bill.Then there is MIS-C. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. Children with MIS-C may have a fever and various symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, or feeling extra tired. While rare, it has caused deaths.This disease has not been around for years. It has basically been 6 months. No one knows yet the long-term health effects, or how it may present itself years down the road for people who have been exposed. We literally *do not know* what we do not know.For those in our society who suggest that people being cautious are cowards, for people who refuse to take even the simplest of precautions to protect themselves and those around them, I want to ask, without hyperbole and in all sincerity:How dare you?How dare you risk the lives of others so cavalierly. How dare you decide for others that they should welcome exposure as "getting it over with", when literally no one knows who will be the lucky "mild symptoms" case, and who may fall ill and die. Because while we know that some people are more susceptible to suffering a more serious case, we also know that 20 and 30-year-olds have died, marathon runners and fitness nuts have died, children and infants have died.How dare you behave as though you know more than medical experts, when those same experts acknowledge that there is so much we don't yet know, but with what we DO know, are smart enough to be scared of how easily this is spread, and recommend baseline precautions such as:Frequent hand-washingPhysical distancingReduced social/public contact or interactionMask wearingCovering your cough or sneezeAvoiding touching your faceSanitizing frequently touched surfacesThe more things we can all do to mitigate our risk of exposure, the better off we all are, in my opinion. Not only does it flatten the curve and allow health care providers to maintain levels of service that aren't immediately and catastrophically overwhelmed; it also reduces unnecessary suffering and deaths, and buys time for the scientific community to study the virus in order to come to a more full understanding of the breadth of its impacts in both the short and long term.I reject the notion that it's "just a virus" and we'll all get it eventually. What a careless, lazy, heartless stance.”

Tosh For ARTBOOK/D.A.P. on John Cage: A Mycological Foray

Tosh on John Cage: A Mycological Foray

Wallace Berman Curator Sophie Dannenmuller on Tosh Talks

Sophie Dannenmüller and Tosh Berman discuss Wallace Berman.  Also the Beats, and California Assemblage movement.

BOOK MUSIK: "Niche: A Memoir in Pastiche" by Momus - Book Musik Podcast

Tosh and Kimley discuss Niche: A Memoir in Pastiche by Momus. Nick Currie who performs under the name Momus (the Greek god of satire and mockery) has enlisted no less than 217 dead narrators of questionable reliability to tell his life story. His selection of an eclectic mix of writers, artists, musicians, philosophers, and assorted ne’er-do-wells probably tells us more about Momus than the actual narration. It seems both his work and his life borrow a little from this and steal a little from that and he makes sure to pilfer from only the best sources to create his own unique pastiche.

Theme music: “Behind Our Efforts, Let There Be Found Our Efforts” by LG17