bitethehand.org

Insect Carnival in The Peace Press!

Posted on October 4th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: The Boogie Room and Gardens, The Peace and Justice Center, Music, Events, Philosophy, The Pharmakon.

Here is an the article that Bite the Hand and The Boogie Room and Gardens composed for The Peace Press.  Enjoy!

The Insect Carnival
An Experiment Towards Sustainability and Peace
by Bite the Hand Productions &
The Boogie Room and Gardens

On Labor Day weekend, a group of young artists and activists worked together to create an event called “The Insect Carnival.”  For three days and three nights, this do-it-yourself festival celebrated the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. People from all around biked and carpooled to the small farm where The Carnival was held, and shared in a lively and inspired weekend with over 30 music acts, public workshops on poetry and farming, a huge mud pit, bonfires, storytelling, and theater.  It was an event that embraced local art and was created by a local consciousness.

The young people of Sonoma County have been working together for quite some time to create a strong underground community.  We are seriously discussing and implementing principles of sustainability, peace, and self-sufficiency. The time we are living in can be discouraging and fearful, and we are responding to a population that is feeling hopeless and bored.  Events like The Insect Carnival are hopeful expressions of our intention for sustainability through creative expression.

This strong new community has been forming out of the creativity and courage of artists and activists.  The two groups who put on The Carnival have been working hard to steward this growth.  They are called Bite the Hand Productions and The Boogie Room and Gardens…

Bite the Hand Productions is the group that organized the Insect Carnival.  It is a collective of artists who put on local events and produce a monthly publication called “The Pharmakon.”  Bite the Hand works to publicize and comment on local activity, and to help artists and activists connect.  According to their manifesto, “‘Bite the Hand’ means to refuse to be led into a life you had no part in creating and instead find real sustenance in the world around you… to feed yourself.”

The Boogie Room and Gardens is the group that hosted The Insect Carnival.  They are a small group of people who believe that there is beauty in self-reliance and self-representation.  They encourage people to provide for themselves and find the balance between work and play, teaching and learning, under the umbrella of artistic expression.  By creating a space to share arts and skill The Boogie Room encourages others to recreate their own culture.

The Insect Carnival was the product of these two groups and a community that was willing to evolve a simple musical event into something greater. It was an effort to look beyond the huge and costly mega-festivals that seem to dominate the summer and to create a rewarding experience that is more about inspiration than inebriation.  At the Insect Carnival, the performers were part of the community: workers, neighbors, and friends

If you want to stay informed on what we are doing, you can pick up The Pharmakon at coffee shops for free.  There will also be a film coming out titled “Pharmakon” which documents some of Bite the Hand and The Boogie Room.  Now, more than ever, we need to reach out, participate, and make connections with each other.  We hope to inspire others, as we have been inspired.

This is a crucial time to be active in Sonoma County. We are standing at a point of great decision and it will take a sustained effort and an open heart from everyone in order to change our course and protect our future.  The Insect Carnival is a gesture in that direction.  Now, it is time to settle into the dirt, find our roots, and rise up.  It is time to learn how to work together.

To learn more about Bite the Hand Productions, go to www.bitethehand.org or e-mail thepharmakon@gmail.com

To learn more about The Boogie Room and Gardens, go to www.myspace.com/theboogieroom

2 comments.

Gabe Meline on The End of Summer

Posted on September 18th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Free Mind Media, Music, Events.

Wow.  I haven’t posted in this blog for a while, but it feels great to start again!  Here is an article you might find interesting.  Gabe Meline (The Last Record Store, Santiago, The Bohemian) wrote this great article on The Insect Carnival and the Free Mind Benefit just the other week.  Take a look.  This is what it is all about.

It’s the end of the summer
Come to the time when we have to say goodbye

After watching seven different bands at Daredevils & Queens tonight, and after spending three days watching countless bands at the Insect Carnival last weekend, I have to say: summertime’s elusive promise, that delicate combination of freedom and togetherness so impossible to contain, has come and delivered its sweet kiss just in the nick of time. Soon it will be October, and we’ll spend our nights at home, and read Neil Gaiman novels and watch Richard Widmark movies, and talk about them to computer screens. But these last few weekends, at least, have been a last gasp of what living in Santa Rosa is all about.

It’s hard to put into words, these shows at the Insect Carnival and Daredevils & Queens, aside from saying that they’re probably best not put into words. They breathe, but how do you describe a breath? You inhale air, you exhale air. Right? Is it that simple?

The oldest of friends, the newest of strangers, the coldest of beers and the truest of bands. All under a sky just enough unclouded by city lights to allow a few stars to poke through. Shooting stars, even—the kind that you catch in their split-second streak, and when you discover that the person you’re next to saw it too, for a moment you are bonded if not by the music or the laws of attraction than at least by the very fact that you’re both under the same big sky.

The end of the summer means that people play John Prine and Jesus Lizard songs in the middle of a field, next to a mud pit full of naked people. The end of the summer means Jolie Holland ballads and clanging chains and bullhorns and a floor bending under the weight of people jumping up and down in rhythm. The end of the summer means sharing amps and sideways smiles and a hundred hugs. The end of the summer means a downtown alley full of people drinking free beer and fuck it if it’s Coors.

And the end of the summer means that as the wig-wearing auctioneers of Wine Country Weekend raise money by clowning their own dead counterculture of the 1960s, there are walls both concrete and wooded, both inside city limits and out, where a new culture is constantly being reborn. Where fresh blood is funneled into art, and music, and community, and life, and where money does not rule all. I repeat: where money does not rule all.

So thanks to the bands, and the people like Travis and Bryce and Kyle, and the hordes of people in this town who know a good thing when they see it and who seize it while it lasts.

Gabe is a hell of a writer and he knows Sonoma County.  Be sure to check out his frequent posts at his blog, “City Sound Inertia.”  You can get to it by clicking here:  http://www.bohemian.com/citysound/

0 comments.

Insect Carnival 2008

Posted on August 21st, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: The Boogie Room and Gardens, Immediate Theatre, Annie The Ghost's Art, The Crux, Music, Events, Films, Workshops.

Bite the Hand Productions and The Boogie Room and Gardens invite you to celebrate with us on August 29, 30, and 31 at the Second Annual Insect Carnival! Come camp out with us and share in a weekend of music, theater, workshops, gardening, games, and more!

This is a conscious event that is being held at a private residence. We appreciate your cooperation and your respect. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you attend the celebration:

• We encourage bike riding and camping at the Carnival. Our guided bike rides will be departing from Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, and Cotati. See the schedule for departure times.
• If you cannot bike to the Carnival, please carpool.
• Please show up before 6:30pm if you intend on camping at The Boogie Room.
• Gates close at 10:30pm each night.
• We are asking a $5 donation per day that you attend the Carnival.

We will be having amazing performances in the day and the night! The performances are listed in the order they will be appearing:

• Friday the 29th of August
  • 12:00 noon
    • Guided bike rides leave from Santa Rosa’s Community Market, Sebastopol’s Whole Foods, and Cotati’s Oliver’s Market
    • The Insect Carnival begins!
  • 3:00pm
    • Guided bike ride leaves from Santa Rosa’s Community Market, Sebastopol’s Whole Foods, and Cotati’s Oliver’s Market
  • 3:00-6:30
    • The Crooks, The Mighty Chiplings, Banjomama, Eucalypt, and The Highlands
    • Guided bike ride leaves from Santa Rosa’s Community Market
  • 6:30-7:30
    • “The World’s Biggest Comedy Duo” Improv Comedy Show
  • 7:30-8:30
    • Yarn Arms and Gitar
  • 8:30-9:00
    • “Fire and Ghosts” Storytelling by the Campfire
  • 9:00pm-1:00am
    • The Semi-Evolved Simians, Litany for the Whale, Not to Reason Why, and Goodriddler

• Saturday the 30th of August
  • 10:00am
    • Yoga
  • 12:00 Noon
    • Breakfast and goat-milking
    • Guided bike rides leave from Santa Rosa’s Community Market, Sebastopol’s Whole Foods, and Cotati’s Oliver’s Market
  • 1:00-3:00
    • Mud Wrestling with Laundry Detergent (Batman vs Predator)
  • 3:00pm
    • Guided bike ride leaves from Santa Rosa’s Community Market
  • 3:00-4:30
    • The Haxaw Ditch Dwellers, Travis Hendrix, and Andrew Maurer
    • …and The Free School with Richard Speaks!
  • 4:30-5:00
    • Boogie Room Public Meeting
  • 5:00-8:00
    • Banjomama, Low-Five, Ferocious Few, and Santiago
    • …and workshops on gardening, fermented foods, and cheese-making!
  • 8:00-8:30
    • The Crux Tent Revival, Chapter Two
  • 8:30pm-2:30am
    • Nikos Eliot, Fishbear, A Pack of Wolves, The Iditarod, and DJ Underwater

• Sunday the 31st of August
  • 12:00 Noon
    • Breakfast and Performances
    • Guided bike rides leave from Santa Rosa’s Community Market, Sebastopol’s Whole Foods, and Cotati’s Oliver’s Market
  • 1:00-3:00
    • Lemonade and Open Mic (come play!)
  • 3:00pm
    • Guided bike ride leaves from Santa Rosa’s Community Market
  • 3:00-9:00
    • uMana, Erstwhile Medicine Show, Leila-Anne, Ramon and Jessica, Mark Growden, and Kyle Martin
    • …and a workshops on cheese-making, event-organizing, and goat-milking!
  • 9:00-12:00 midnight
    • I Cut People, Shampoodle, Bill Wild, Brandon the Clown, and The Crux
  • 12:00 midnight
    • “The Pharmakon,” a documentary about Sonoma County

Call us at 707-326-5274 for…
… specific times of performances and workshops!
… directions to The Boogie Room and Gardens!
… help finding carpools and bike rides!
… opportunities to volunteer!

0 comments.

The Insect Carnival is Coming!

Posted on July 11th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Music, Events.

Bite the Hand Productions invites you to join in our second annual celebration of community, music, and the cycles of life on AUGUST 29, 30, and 31 (Labor Day Weekend) at The Boogie Room and Gardens! Camp out with us and enjoy food, dancing, theater, workshops, and more! Featuring performances by The Iditarod, A Pack of Wolves, The Crux and much much more!

START PREPARING FOR THE CARNIVAL RIGHT NOW!

1. Get August 29, 30, and 31 off work!
2. Organize Carpools, Bike Rides, and Camping with your friends!
3. Save up $15, we are asking a $5 donation per day!

SHARE IN OUR D.I.Y. FESTIVAL!
We are looking for volunteers for this year’s carnival, so if you are interested in helping set-up, take-down, arranging carpools and bike rides, or anything else… call us at 707-326-5274 or e-mail us at thepharmakon@gmail.com

REMEMBER…AUGUST 29, 30, and 31, CAMP OUT WITH BITE THE HAND PRODUCTIONS AT THE BOOGIE ROOM AND GARDENS!

1 comment.

After a Year… A Day in the Park

Posted on June 3rd, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Music, The Pharmakon.

 On Sunday, June 1st, Bite the Hand Productions showed up at Santa Rosa’s Doyle Park, sound permit in hand, to enjoy local music and celebrate the one-year anniversary of The Pharmakon periodical.  We sat up in the center of the park, under the shade of a giant oak tree, and spent the day listening to music and spending time with people in our community.  From noon to dusk, it was a great way to celebrate a year of fantastic production!

We played with soccer balls and frisbees.  We met new people and our dogs ran around.  Food Not Bombs brought fruits, veggies, and breads.  The sounds of Drugstore Chemist, Jugbone, The Semi-Evolved Simians, Blue Shift, Erstwhile Medicine Show, A Mother Like Sun, Three Mile Island, Bryce Style and Goodriddler filled our ears.  A new musical project from Bite the Hand, called The Crooks, reared its head for the first time! 

But the best part of the day was the people.  Many of the guests were folks we had never seen before!  They had just shown up because of their contact with The Pharmakon!  That was one of the really amazing parts of the day- meeting the people who have been reading our work.  Thanks for showing up and celebrating with us.  We look forward to another year…

0 comments.

Herbs and Music!

Posted on May 31st, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Soundings, Music, Local Businesses and Non-Profits, Events, Workshops.

Today went so well that we had to sit down immediately and start writing.  A  big group turned out to enjoy music and to learn more about how to use herbs medicinally.  Our friend Kaitlin put on THREE workshops for the public explaining how to make salves, tinctures, and fire cider!  Hannah Rose, Travis Hendrix, Tyler Wagner, I Cut People, and Low Five all played music and proved that they were some of the best artists in our county.  We also planted a new herb garden for Community Market!   It was a great mixture of sounds, smells, and do-it-yourself energy…

This project was a joint effort between Bite the Hand Productions, Vuildings Building Themselves, and Santa Rosa’s Community Market.  For more information on Buildings Building Themselves, cleck here:  BBT Web Page   For more information on Community Market, click here:  Community Market Web Page

0 comments.

The Pharmakon One-Year Anniversary!

Posted on May 28th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Food Not Bombs, Bryce Style's Poetry, Music, Events, The Pharmakon.

This Sunday, June 1st, we will be celebrating ONE WHOLE YEAR OF THE PHARMAKON PERIODICAL! Come on out to Santa Rosa’s Doyle Park from noon to sundown and enjoy a day in the park with Bite the Hand Productions!

It is going to be a great day! Here is the schedule of the musical acts:

• 12:00- Jugbone
• 12:30- Drugstore Chemist
• 1:00- The Semi-Evolved Simians
• 2:00- A soccer game with music by Blue Shift
• 3:00- Erstwhile Medicine Show
• 3:30- Three Mile Island (featuring Bill Wild)
• 4:15- A Mother Like Sun
• 5:15- Goodriddler
• 6:00- Hannah Rose

Bring something to barbeque! We will have food from Food Not Bombs, poetry by Bryce Style, and more! Also, the whole event will be hosted by Timmy Redface and The Skinny Man in their new musical project- The Crooks! We want to fill the park with Pharmakon fans, so bring your friends!

$5 suggested donation, no one turned away for lack of funds. Call 707-326-5274 for details and directions.

0 comments.

Community Market Herb Day!!

Posted on May 27th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Soundings, Music, Local Businesses and Non-Profits, Events.

Come to Santa Rosa’s Community Market this Saturday and enjoy great local music as we learn more about how to identify and use herbs! It is going to be a fantastic day! Here is the line-up:

• 11:00- Music by Hannah Rose
• 11:30- Salve Workshop
• 12:00- Music by Leila Anne
• 12:30- Tincture Workshop
• 1:00- Music by Travis Hendrix
• 1:30- Fire Cider Workshop
• 2:00- Herb Walk
• 2:30- Music

Call 326-5274 for details.

0 comments.

The Crux are Hiding Out…

Posted on May 24th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: The Crux, Music.

Dear People of Sonoma County,

Thank you for coming to our shows.  Thank you for stomping.  Thank you for dreaming us into being.  It has been a grand year.  Together, we have propped up The Pharmakon and have welcomed new artists into our community canopy.  Such sounds.  Such spirit.

Now, we shall be wandering the streets for a month or so, searching for good acoustics as we shape an album out of the things we find.  We’ll return with it between our teeth and we’ll drop it at your feet like a fish.  So be true while we’re away and we’ll meet again another day.

- The Crux

PS:  You can still contact us here:  www.myspace.com/thecruxandfriends 

0 comments.

Annie The Ghost’s Art Show!

Posted on May 12th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Annie The Ghost's Art, The Crux, Music, Events.

Come out to Daredevils and Queens in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square on Saturday, May 17th and listen to some music as you experience the art and atmosphere of Annie Montgomery (aka Annie the Ghost).   It is going to be a circus!  Scheduled performers are:  Jugbone, Internet Explorer, Mesa Pegasus, Goodriddler, and The Crux!

0 comments.

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