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.

Pharmakon #13 is Out!

Posted on June 16th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: The Pharmakon.

Our June issue of The Pharmakon (titled “Energy”) has been out on the streets for a while. Wevel been dropping it off at all of our usual spots:

COLOR issues are for sale at Copperfields in Sebastopol and at Community Market in Santa Rosa.

FREE BLACK AND WHITE copies are at Community Market, Treehorn Books, 1710 Coffee, The Boogie Room, Free Mind Media, The Last Record Store, Aqus Cafe, Coffee Catz, Hardcore Espresso, Infusions Tea House, North Light, and Zone Music.

This summer-starting issue tells the tale of Community Gardens in the United States, features a new letter from Aren Diego, presents a “Nimby the Dog” comic strip, and much more! Buy one if at all possible, or you can always pick a black and white copy up for free! Enjoy!

2 comments.

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…

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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.

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Pharmakon #12 is Out!

Posted on May 22nd, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: The Pharmakon.

Our May issue of The Pharmakon (titled “Poison/Medicine”) is out on the streets. We’ll be dropping it off over the next couple days at all of our usual spots:

COLOR issues are for sale at Copperfields in Sebastopol and Petaluma, and at Community Market in Santa Rosa.

FREE BLACK AND WHITE copies are at Community Market, Treehorn Books, Flying Goat Coffee, 1710 Coffee, The Boogie Room, Free Mind Media, The Last Record Store, Aquus Cafe, Coffee Catz, Hardcore Espresso, Infusions Tea House, North Light, and Zone Music.

This year-ending issue invites you to our One Year Anniversary and a Community Market event, introduces you to the people who print The Pharmakon, presents the third part of Phaedrus (the philosophy of The Pharmakon), tells the last part of our Shady Dealings comic, and much more! Buy one if at all possible, or you can always pick a black and white copy up for free! Enjoy!

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Phaedrus (Part Three)

Posted on May 20th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Phaedrus, Philosophy, The Pharmakon.

Part Three: Our Prescription

Dear Reader,

Poison and medicine. As I mentioned in my first letter, the word pharmakon means both. Not either/or, but both poison and medicine at the same time. The same way that we have seen the text itself is both composed and decomposed (see “Phaedrus 1” in September’s issue), the same way that my writing is both a straying and hunting (“Phaedrus 2” in January’s issue), the pharmakon is that which both heals and kills.

It makes sense: in the logic of the supplement (the pharmakon), whatever comes from without cannot be entirely beneficial, nor can it be entirely harmful. It remains simply “different.” Every encounter with the supplement is new and it contains both healing and destructive power. An ambiguous experience, an encounter with the pharmakon never proves to be entirely one-sided . What you get is more like a subtle description of the whole.

Descriptions: mythic and metaphorical hints. This is what the pharmakon offers us. It requires a bit of meditation and imagination to fully digest this ambiguous metaphorical supplement. This poison, this medicine, this pharmakon is something that comes from the outside and conjures up reactions in whoever encounters it. It is just like the written word, which conjures up a number of different image and ideas in the reader. Remember how in ancient Greece, the word pharmakon referred to writing…

Now, look at The Pharmakon periodical. Our little written supplement is also like poison and medicine. Full of hints and descriptions of art and activism, it has both a constructive and deconstructive effect on Sonoma County. Merely the presence of a monthly publication has created plenty of positive and negative effect. People have been pleased and people have been upset, all from a little mixture of writing… just scribbles… like a wolf paw scratching… What The Pharmakon represents is the ambiguous power that an inscribed message has on reader and writer alike.

“Really?” you may think, “but why all of these articles on art and activism? Isn’t there some great political scheme behind this?” I think not. The Pharmakon, though not outside of politics, should not be misunderstood as logical political discourse. There is a political world that we live in, but our writings are more like artifacts left over from that world. Our writing is a magic bag of tricks and inspiration, it is not meant to be a definitive commentary. The Pharmakon does not work in a logical way. It is more physical than that, working on many levels at once. A collection of scribbles, it sails through our community, effecting us in a variety of unpredictable ways.

So, what are we hoping you get out of The Pharmakon? What is this supplement supposed to do? That is a difficult question to answer, since The Pharmakon can be read in many ways. It is not meant to tell you anything in particular. It is more of a strange invitation. A prescription. To accept it is to let the poison and the medicine take their effects. It is to join in the creation and discovery. It is to paint your world with an intimate and artistic vision. To compose and decompose. To stray and to hunt at the same time. This inscription is our prescription. This script… this script… this script…

Yours in Service,

Phaedrus

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So… Where is the Pharmakon?

Posted on May 16th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: The Pharmakon.

Thank you for all of your demands for the next issue. It is almost done, with only two more pages left. It has been a very busy time and we have been a bit behind schedule. Thanks for your patience and your interest.

In the meantime, please mark your calendar because Bite the Hand Productions is putting on two BIG events pretty soon. They are…

May 31st- Herb Day @ Community Market
June 1st- The Pharmakon One Year Anniversary @ Doyle Park

We look forward to seeing you soon… Summer is just arriving and we are going to have a great time in Sonoma County!

-Bite the Hand

0 comments.

Pharmakon 11 IS OUT!

Posted on April 13th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Tim Dixon's Art, The Pharmakon.

Our April issue of The Pharmakon (titled “Unbinding”) is out on the streets. We’ll be dropping it off over the next couple days at all of our usual spots:

COLOR issues will be for sale at Copperfields in Sebastopol and Petaluma, and at Community Market in Santa Rosa.

FREE BLACK AND WHITE copies are at Community Market, Treehorn Books, Flying Goat Coffee, 1710 Coffee, The JC, Free Mind Media, The Last Record Store, Aquus Cafe, Coffee Catz, Hardcore Espresso, Sonoma State, North Light, and Zone Music.

This issue is loaded with words, art, and events! You’ll read about our project to help get farmers markets at Sonoma State, learn how to make an herb and vegetable spiral, find out about Annie the Ghost’s new art show, and much more! Buy one if at all possible, or you can always pick a black and white copy up for free! Enjoy!

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Come Make Some Cheap Art!

Posted on March 14th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Music, Free Mind Media, Events, Workshops, Philosophy, Cheap Art, The Pharmakon.

Art is an everyday thing and it is for everyone. No matter how much money you manage to make, no matter what time of year it is, we remain artists. That is what Cheap Art is about. Bite the Hand Productions is devoted to pushing forward the Cheap Art Movement in Sonoma County through articles in The Pharmakon, the displaying and selling of Cheap Art at our gallery at Free Mind Media, and through reoccurring Cheap Art Days- the first of which is taking place this Sunday at a little home called Assa Ni Assa.

So, come on down to 1560 Humboldt Street and spend the day with your fellow Cheap Artists! We will be making all sorts of arts and crafts to keep or put up in our gallery (whichever the artist prefers). There will be acoustic music as well as refreshing food. Also, we will be holding a harmonica workshop in the afternoon! Everything is free, so come over and put your energy into the Sonoma County Cheap Art Movement!

Call 326-5274 for details.

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The Many Portraits of Leila Anne

Posted on March 11th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Individual Artists, Leila Anne's Photos, Music, Films, Events, The Pharmakon.

Who is Leila Anne? She’s a singer, a bike rider, a violinist, a Community Market employee, a photographer, and more. She embodies the artistic energy and do-it-yourself genius that is sweeping over our community and we at Bite the Hand Productions are glad every time we see her. This post is written out of a deep respect for a someone who courageously lives her visions out loud. Below is a short list of some of the contributions that Leila Anne brings to our community regularly:

Leila Anne Sings Songs, plays guitar, piano, autoharp, and violin. She has performed on her own and with groups like John Courage and Djuna. Leila Anne has played at two major Bite the Hand events: The 2007 Insect Carnival and our Sonoma County Quilt Day. What a voice! You can check out her music here: Leila Anne Sings Songs

Photographs that Leila Anne takes are always a treat to see. We have used her pictures twice for the back covers of The Pharmakon. She takes pictures of her adventures, her friends, and has begun a new project where she takes a self portrait of herself every day for a year! Check it out here: Leia Anne’s Flickr page

Leila Anne’s YouTube Videos are eclectic and entertaining. She has taped herself and her friends performing (there is even a Christmas special). We are looking forward to her next video. Check them out here: Leila Anne’s YouTube Page

Leila Anne, you are one of the real gems of our community. Keep singing, keep strumming, keep clicking away. And wherever your journeys take you, we count ourselves fortunate that you always send a picture home. Bite the Hand Productions salutes you.