June 2020: The State of All The Things {Official Thing} (Patreon)

(patrons only)

hallo loves. 

here we are, with the monthly state of all things. sorry not sorry at all that it's coming towards the end of the month again, mama needed to take two weeks off with her kiddo at the top of the month so she didn't lose her goddamn mind. the good news is that i think i'll be able to put out two (2!!!) things before the month is out if i light a fire under my own ass. there's quite a backlog, as you know. hold my hand, and hope that the art-log-jam doesn't get too weird. but hey, everything is pretty weird right now, so....

QUICK: first important order of patreon-business: i'm going to release the "there will be no intermission artbook" as a patreon thing in PDF-form very soon (fingers crossed it'll be a july Thing), and i have a section in the back of the book where i acknowledge patrons who opted in to have their name listed. 

the first round of acknowledgements included 8,000 patrons back in decemeber 2018....and now i want to give new patrons the chance to have their names included in the PDF version. if you already added your name and it appears in the print version, you do not need to fill this form out again!!! if your name is not included in the original print version of the book, please give me your name! deadline is SUNDAY JULY 26th. every patron counts, even if you just joined 4 days ago. GIMME THAT NAME!!!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd5ruc0IoOMgd3YE7gVbT6JJJndSXuRFoF-81eV622-jV6GWg/viewform?usp=sf_link

GO!!! DO!!!! WE ALREADY HAVE 2,000 NEW NAMES SINCE ANNOUNCING THIS YESTERDAY WHICH IS FUCKING PHENOMENAL.
....

ahem.

since these monthly recap posts can be, er, long, here is a table of contents for what you'll find in this post, after i ramble a little bit about how i'm doing.

• HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED - a round up on projects and events that have happened in the last month (the month of may, but some recent july stuff will be peppered in)  
  
• TWO NEW SHOWS ADDED IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND
  
• WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIKE - this is a list of projects that are currently in production and updates on where they're at, these are some things to look forward to  
  
• HOW THE PATREON HAS GROWN - this is the nitty gritty numbers on the Things (or paid posts) released in the previous month  
  
• DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP - i gives space to my team for them to share with you what they're working on, or behind the scenes perspective. they are real people and this patreon not only funds my art, it also affords me the ability to have a staff helping me (and all of you) to make this art community as wonderful as it is
  
• OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT - a place where i share other patreons, crowdfunds, or other artists who are making work i think you should know about  
  
• ART BEGETTING ART - there's so many beautiful pieces of fan art and art made inspired by me and my work, i always  like to include a little collection of some pieces to share with you each month

.....

so...how am i?

i dunno, really. i'm actually pretty good.

HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU??? hahahahaha.

the world feels like it's on fire, my friends. 

it feels like the world has a fever that is not breaking. 

i talk with my friends and family back in the states and i hear so many stories and so much anger and so much frustration and pain, and also, sometimes, a sense of calm and peace surrender, and sometimes a sense of explosive hope that everything is finally going to change for the better and also sometimes, a sense of total hopelessness about the situation.

i said on social media the other day:

i feel homesick for a sick home.

meanwhile, life here in aotearoa new zealand is just chugging along with almost no covid, and life is, well, sorta normal. there's no social distancing, there's no commiunity transmission, all schools and workpalces and resaturants and bars and theaters are open, and people are just....doing life. hawke's bay, where we are renting a house, has zero covid cases, and hasn't in a very, very long time.

but there is this sense of "what if..." with every step. and there's a strange awareness of just how very fucking we all are to be in this country. 

when i traveled to auckland and rotorua a few weeks ago, there was a little bit of extra caution...hand sanitizers in doorways, and i still stuffen when i use an ATM and wonder if this will be the germ that started the fire.

but nobody is wearing masks here, and that's not any kind of "political" statement. it's just not necessary.

the more i talk to my friends back home in new york, california, texas, florida...the more and more grateful i am that i held my breath and stayed here. but that doens't make the homesickness easier. it just makes it weirdly bittersweet.

our schedule is the most mundane, mom-like, domestic schedule i have ever kept. but since the whole world is being denied it's mundane-ness, i find it all so strangely holy and satisfying.

my daily schedule:

i go to bed at 9pm with ash, after dinner and bath. if i am being indulegent, i read until 10 or 11pm: the new york times, the guardian, a book.if i am being lazybad, i work and email. i wake at 5. i meditate. i light some candles, make some tea, do some yoga before ash wakes up. ash wakes at 8. sometimes i have time to make some calls to friends in the states. ash up; we cuddle and read books until 9. sometimes we call dada. we make breakfast (pancakes on non-rush days, french toast on semi-rush days, cereal on heavy-rush days). i walk ash to school, which takes about a half an hour. after i drop him off, if i have time, i get a coffee in town and read the paper and catch up on texts. i work from about 11-4pm most days, and work often involves sorting stuff for ash, shopping stuff, life stuff, house stuff, whatever stuff. at four, ash gets picked up. we play, we cook dinner, we eat dinner, we make a bath, we take a bath, we go to bed. rinse. repeat.

sometimes we go out for dinner with friends. sometimes we go to someones house. life is simple.

i find it all very soothing, actually. my kid now comes first, before almost everything else. i wonder if i would have made this transition so fully if i'd not had lockdown to kick my ass. i don't know. i'll never know. i'll also never know what my life would be like if i'd bitten the bullet and flown home to woodstock. i can KIND of know, because i have the reports from my friends at home. the reports are not dleightful. most of my friends with kids in the states are struggling to stay cheerful and balanced. so am i : but for different reasons. my kid has the basics: fun, school, playgrounds, waterslides, trampoline sparks, arcades, libraries, the movies, theaters, crowds. but he misses home. 

here is a good ash shot from the end of our road trip to auckland:

i posted this to instagram:

people are always asking me about my influences and heroes. lately i have to admit my hero and biggest influence, especially in the zen department, is my son. 

today, on a winding mountain road after eating a gigantic lunch, he said “i’m sick mama” and ten seconds later, puked all over the backseat of the car. all over. no piece of back-car or backseat baggage was spared. thirty seconds after the massive puke, he looked at me with a very neutral expression and said: “i got sick!” and decided the remain cheerful for the entire exercise of pulling over on the side of the road in the freezing rain while the car was wet-wiped by me and xanthea. 

he sat in the front seat, stripped of his puke-clothes, staring into the middle distance and looking content. it is amazing to me, what he is attached to, and what he is instantly able to let go of. he was, today, my biggest influence and reminder to stay drama free under all circumstances. be here now, everybody. the vomit is spilled and in the past. only the faint whiff of sick remains as a humble reminder to be in the present moment. 

................

meanwhile, puke notwithstanding, i've been trying to right my ship and get on top of some art-making again.

if you know anything about me, and especially if you saw my touring show this year, you know that i consider art a really helpful therapeutic tool.

so, i've been trying to write in the cracks, and i'm proud of myself that amidst all the scrambling, and homesickness, and palavar going on in my home country...i'm still able to make my little offerings. 

i've also announced my first post-lockdown shows (in wellington and hawkes bay, and patrons got first carck at tickets...if you missed it, the dates are here)...and while i am juggling and struggling a little bit to keep up, i also am really looking forward to these shows.  

i've also, like many, noticed the deafening drop-off of discussion around #BlackLivesMatter...and i've committed to doing an ongoing instragram/socials takeover and handing the mic to black voices. we just had emily wurramara as a guest .....listening.....

.....and it was incredibly powerful, and hard, and good. you can go watch the archive of our live chat here whether you use instagram or not. the songs hit HARD.

hopefully soon we'll start doing these on patreon & crowdcast instead of a hyper-profit-driven platform.

i wish all of you so much strength, peace, and resolve for the coming weeks. 

everything just feels so strange right now.

we have each other.

there's that, right?

i love you all.

so much.

thank you for being my patrons, and thank you for staying tuned, and keeping hte faith over here.

i'll keep art-ing.

x

a

p.s. the header photo is by me, of ash and xanthea, who has been my stalwart helper-hero, at the bog of eternal stench in rotorua. more family trip pictures in next months althing.

..................

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED IN JUNE.

i went a-busking in napier in hastings at the local farmer's markets. it made me happy....at a deep level. if you read my book, you know these are my roots, and i am happiest when i am winning over a crowd of grumpy strangers shopping for organic kale.

photo by roger matthews

that one's in napier, and this one is hastings....it was COLD!!!.....i invited along some young musicians to play with me, and it made them happy too.

there's not a ton happening on the interntational-musician-stuck-in-hawkes-bay front, so it made the newspaper. that was kinda nice and funny: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12346827

(here's some phone video taken by roger, too, of me playing Fake Plastic Trees. thanks roger.)

.....

this was thinged but is still waiting to come out publicly....

IT'S A FIRE (PORTISHEAD COVER) with Jherek Bischoff and Rhiannon Giddens, patron post here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/38758446

it is slated for public release on august 3rd, since rhiannon has a few things of her own coming out and wanted to delay the release so she could give it her full attention. i'll let you know when it drops, obviously, and you'll get the file.

photos by lucy lawless

my beautiful music-brother jherek bischoff hard at work in LA on the mix:

...

i played a tiny little gig for a tiny room full of people in haumona, aotearoa new zealand....my first official appearance (well, besides the farmers market) after lockdown. it was....very powerful.

photo by xanthea o'connor

patrons were hte only ones i notified about the show, i didn't post about it on any other social media. 

it was divine and i wanted to lick the stage. it may not seem like a special picture - there’s so many like this from my gazillions of years of touring, right?

but this night was one for the books and transformed me back into my working stage self. this is what i do...to play in a small cozy room of 50 local kiwis, and also to be able to thank these local people in person for their unbelievable kindness as i’ve fallen into the net of their tiny community - this is a moment i will never forget. it was heaven and thank you to everyone who came.

SETLIST:
creep
in my mind
the thing about things
behind the wall (tracy chapman)
black boys on mopeds (sinead o'conner)
runs in the family
coin-operated boy
reading from “the art of asking”
a mother’s confession
vegemite
drowning in the sound
the "aotearoa new zealand trilogy":

new zealand
hello aotearoa
(the new untitled song - which i also just recorded for y'all)

ukulele anthem

.....

me, finally feeling human, in napier a few weeks ago....

me, finally feeling human in the hastings libarary....children's section, of course....

me, finally feeling human, on a zoom call with HEADCOUNT.ORG, discussing how we are going to GET PEOPLE TO FUCKING VOTE IN NOVEMBER....LORD HELP US.....

...........

i was very proud of this banner i made with kya's kids and a new local friend.

we put it up on this kiosk and it stayed up about a week....

and yes. i kiss you. this is the backyard of our air bnb here in hastings.

not bad. not bad at all.

the chickens are doing fine.

one snuck in the house and into ash's bedroom yesterday:

......

TWO NEW SHOWS ADDED IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND

the above flyer features a new photo taken in aotearoa by local photographer v hoy. more on that shoot....soon. it was incredible.

so, i just i announced two new shows - one is a make up date for the cancelled show in wellington and the other is in hawke's bay, at the opera house.

SO EXCITED.

as always, head to http://amandapalmer.net/shows for the latest concert/event info and public ticket links. all those tickets are up.

....

WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIKE

to avoid being repetitive, since most of the projects in production are still in the production pipeline, i'm going to list the, out by title only and if you'd like more information or to see an in progress picture, click here to view this section of last month's althing....

https://www.patreon.com/posts/state-of-all-may-37552735

• THE ARTBOOK PDF

one new update here, with the artbook, is that very soon i'll send out a patreon post with a link for you to have your name included in the section where i thank patrons. the original physical books had a tight print deadline last year, and so many new patrons have joined since then and since the tour, so there will be a chance for anyone who missed out having their name in the print version to be included in this digital version. more soon.

• THE "CONFESSIONAL" DOCUMENTARY WE SHOT IN TASMANIA....
• LOOK MUMMY NO HANDS MUSIC VIDEO...
• THE JENESSA JOFFE VIDEO PROJECT
• THE ART OF ASKING EVERYTHING PODCAST
• AT LONG LAST, THE NEW AMANDAPALMER.NET WEBSITE!!!!
  

....

UPCOMING SONG THAT I RECORDED IN AUCKLAND, and am VERY EXCITED ABOUT.....

here's a little tour of the studio.....

https://www.instagram.com/p/CChwfkpFYXL

this one will be good. stay tuned.

.....

NEW ROUND OF ART IN THE MAIL!!!!!

if you're an art-in-the-mail patron, click here to vote on the art variation you'd like us to hand print for the next round. the art is being hand made by a local artist in aotearoa

https://www.patreon.com/posts/25-patrons-only-38481836

if you've considered becoming an art-in-the-mail patron, now's a good time to up your pledge....you'll get something very beautiful in the mail from aotearoa made by a beautiful local artist.....if you up your pledge, the above link will open to you.

......

HOW THE PATREON HAS GROWN...

and now...NITTY GRITTY TIME.

as of this writing there are 15,206 patrons pledging about $49,905 for the first Thing each month.

i go over this stuff every month, but if you're new.....

patreon charges you monthly & retroactively, meaning that you get billed on the 1st of the month for all the Things released the month prior (for example, you were charged for the Things released in june on july 1st). 

because people have their pledges capped (HAVE YOU NOT CAPPED YOUR PLEDGE? if you are on a budget, you should. here's the tutorial again), the first Thing raises the most money, and anything released thereafter raises less and less. I LIKE THIS. it means i never feel too guilty!!!!!. really. do it. cap cap cap your pledge if you are on a tight budget. 

the numbers below are gross. they are not net. meaning: it's the money raised before fees were deducted by patreon and is not the total deposited to me. patreon takes a 5% fee (which they use to build and sustain the platform, which is GOOD) and then there's a payment processing fee, which varies on a ton of factors and is usually between 5-9% of the total collected. 

also, none of this reflects the money i SPENT MAKING THE ART, running the business, paying the office rent, getting myself around, getting the team around and fed and slept,....all the collaborators and my actual staff payroll, etc. 

i don't share that level of nitty-detail-stuff with you because i assume it would bore you to fucking tears. but you can trust me: paying for a full-time staff, office, manager, accountant, and massive team of art-collaborators ain't cheap. sometimes we barely break even, especially when we do a lot of charity projects.

back in May, i Thanged Three Things:

April 2020: State of All Things was the first Thing and it earned about $57,532 from 15,529 patrons

The Dresden Dolls "I'm Going to Go Back There" was the second Thing and it earned about $25,985 from 9,258 patrons

The Art of Asking About Abortion On the Road With Amanda Palmer — Part 3: Ireland was the third and final Thing and it earned about $15,902 from 5,945 patrons

(we say "about" because patreon may be still trying to process some pledges that have yet to go through...we never know, you know.)

them's the numbers.

the patreon numbers have gone DOWN, but they tend to go up and down depending on my abilty to engage and make. i've been pretty preoccupied with ash and keeping house and home together, and also, people are tightening their budgets. this is FINE. i believe in the ebb and flow. so the patreon has dropped a bit $$-wise, but the number of patrons has stayed pretty steady....which is great.

......

DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP.....

from hayley:

Once more, with feeling. That's to say, I had written my update directly in Patreon and it got eaten up by Patreon and lost, so now I am rewriting it. I am tired, and I don't know if version 2.0 will give justice to the heartfelt parts of the original version, but I'll do my best. What else can I do?

If you have any questions, topics or insights you'd like the team to cover in these dispatches, I made a thread on The Shadowbox where you can share. Want to know how something works? Is there a specific curtain of the Team AFP or AFP Patreon mechanism you'd like us to lift up? Hit us up and we'll share!

https://forum.theshadowbox.net/t/althing-monthly-dispatches-from-team-afp/3596

Last month I participated in an online panel hosted as a webinar on Zoom by an Australian music agency called Bolster, as part of their Side B Sessions online speaking series. The panel was titled "Cultivating Communities" and had what I thought to be interesting conversation covering a range of basis. Here's a description of it:

Here is the single screen shot I took during the call... clearly I was the only one who knew a screen shot was being taken...

The panel was recorded and hopefully it'll be put up on their YouTube channel to share with folks who could not attend live, I'll be sure to share the link if/when it's up.

The IRL in person events are my favorite part of my work - with Amanda, I love working concerts and the miscellaneous live events we put on or attend, I get to meet so many of you there and be part of the event in a literal hands on way that it feels so rewarding and satisfying. I get to see the manifestation of all the work and heart we put into the digital operation of making everything go. Most of my days are spent alone behind a computer screen, so I truly value the tangible experiences and people interaction.

I also really enjoy attending music and industry conferences as a speaker because I appreciate the opportunity to share the work I'm doing, the experience we've garnered along the way, and hopefully inspire others to go on and connect art with their fans. I like sharing for the greater benefit of the music community at large, I enjoy presenting the accomplishments (and the hardships) we've faced in the weird work that we do and I most of all love talking about building and nurturing music communities online. It's something I am so passionate about. Conferences these days are few and far between, especially now with live events being indefinitely on hold, I was happy to participate in a virtual panel from the comfort of my own home (how cool).

With concerts and live music also being indefinitely suspended (in New York all large events have been canceled through the rest of the year, and there is chatter within the music community that live concert events may not resume until 2021 at the least, with some speculating 2022 as a more realistic target). This is painful for me, I accept it - because I will do whatever I can to stay safe and to keep those around me safe in this pandemic - but I derive so much joy from concerts, so much satisfaction and creative inspiration from my live concert photography, from the energy of those rooms, from the energy radiated on stage, it's an ephemeral experience I enjoy more than almost anything else. 

And I miss it. A lot. I saw a meme circulating the internet and it asked what the last concert you attended was. Well, the last concert I was at was Amanda's show in Sydney on February 21st, but I was working and did not watch the full show, so I'm not sure I'd count that. The last show I actually attended, outside of work, was YACHT at Rough Trade in Brooklyn in January, in the few weeks I was home from my work trips in UK and Australia. I cannot remember the last time I went over 7 months between seeing live music.... it feels so exceptional. I suppose these days it's easy for me to get caught looking backwards because there's not much to grab on to in a concrete way in looking forward. Looking forward right now there are all of these big conceptual ideas, these What Ifs and Maybes, without a clear timeline to cling on to.

In the grand scheme of things, this is all a reflection of where joy exists and the fantasizing of it being attainable at an unknown future point in time. In the meantime, in the present, we're facing so much uncertainty and injustice in this world, and it's been inspiring to me to see so many people speak out, present their bodies in the streets, their dollars into worthy funds, and to lend their hands to the people and community who need the support most. I'm inspired by the heart that I see, the rawness, the truth, the endless fight of good fights. I see so many people having hard times right now - for a variety of reasons, but many related to the pandemic itself - and my heart swells and aches. Every day feels a sense of heaviness, but there is light between the cracks and I am constantly looking for it.

In June, I voted in the New York State primary election. In November, I will vote in the general election. This is to say, if you are in the US and you haven't yet registered to vote, if you moved or need to update your registration for any other reason, if you want election information, if you want to know where your polling place is or to request an absentee/mail-in ballot, please, please, please do not wait until the last minute. Get as sorted as you can, learn who will be on your ballot (local elections are extremely important in directly affecting you and your community), and make informed choices. You can go to http://headcount.org to access all of this information and more. Headcount is a non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is simply to help register voters, Amanda and the Dresden Dolls have worked with them repeatedly, they've tabled at their concerts, we had them at every show on this past US TWBNI tour, and they have volunteers at many live concerts and other events registering voters and providing election information. And for local elections, if you'd like to see a sample ballot and learn more about candidates, I highly recommend bookmarking http://Ballotpedia.org - this has been such a useful resource for me and I hope it's helpful for you too.

I will close out with another golden light selfie, taken during our daily team check in call on june 22nd at 7:21pm

Wherever you are reading this, I hope you have joy, peace, and fire inside you.

Hayley

{i love you, hayley. as always. thank you for the work you always do... xxx afp}

....

from michael:

Hello Patrons,

June seems like a hot sticky blur from my perspective in Brooklyn. As some of you know, things in the States are. . . not all that great at the moment, so it’s been a bit overwhelming at times for various reasons. Still, I am so incredibly grateful that I have the love and support of this team and all of you. Knowing that we are all part of this big art family definitely helps me get through the days more often than not.

As you all know, things have obviously slowed on the work front, but I’ve been using this time to read more, work in my little garden, and continue my long binge of All Things Star Trek while still working on email, keeping in touch with Amanda, Hayley, Jordan, and Alex, and doing my part to help change the world for the better through art and love.

In a personal update on the last day in June I sadly said goodbye to my trusty and beloved 2011 Honda Fit. I was in an accident that left me a bit bruised but not broken, which I am immensely grateful for, but my beloved car did not survive and was totaled. It’s strange how we can become emotionally attached to inanimate objects of all kinds, but especially to cars. 

This little Fit with just under 110,000 miles on it (177,000 km or 36,000 leagues if you wanna be weird), has seen me through so many wonderful, terrible, hilarious, and life changing moments. This tiny car hauled all the bricks for the “Mother Video”, has seen me through 3 separate moves, was used as a production vehicle both for 8ft Records and Our Bar NYC, and has seen me safely there and back again on many many adventures. I posted a bit about what happened here in the “Michael’s Neighborhood Pub” thread on Shadowbox, and while it is quite sad, I know it could have been much much worse. I was looking forward to posting pictures of the odometer when I hit 111,111 but I will just have to wait until that rolls around again when I eventually find my next mode of transport. Again, I want to say that I am ok, and I am so grateful to the whole team who supported me and convinced me to take time off to deal with all of the things and to all of you who read and responded to my post in the Shadowbox. I love you all.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I don’t have any big recipes at the moment, but two quick ones I will share is for a refreshing non-alcoholic drink I have been enjoying 2 parts soda water to 1 part tonic with a splash of Lime Juice over some giant pieces of ice for a refreshing summer drink, and when I want something with an alcoholic kick I have been really enjoying a nice strong Negroni. Some people will argue that they should be made with equal parts Gin, Campari, and Sweet Vermouth, but I much prefer a 3, 2, 1 approach with 3 parts Gin, 2 Parts Campari, and 1 part Sweet Vermouth, and if you want to be fancy you can add a few dashes of Orange Bitters and an orange twist as a garnish. 

I’ll sign off to you the way that I have been signing off many emails lately. . .

I hope you’re all doing well. . . all things considered.

With love,

Michael

{michael.....just hold on. that's all. hold the fuck on. we got you. you've been through the ringer lately. i love the fuck outta you. xx afp} 

....

from alex:

checking in from london... life is still in flux. i have gone back to volunteering at a charity shop twice a week, and it's been weird to be around actual, real life people again. most of them are friendly. occasional there are some real dickheads. 

i planted some cactus seeds at the beginning of lockdown. 8 weeks later i got impatient and thought they weren't growing, so i planted some more. now i have 52 mini cacti growing. anyone want a free cactus with their merch??

speaking of merch...... i have started talking to some of the creators and makers amongst you, and hopefully soon we will have some exciting new ideas to throw your way!!

keep on staying safe, my friends.

-alex

xo

{hallo lovely alex!!! grow, cactus, grow!!!! grow tall and prickly and angry!!!! xxx afp}

....

a recipe from jordan!!!!!

Jordan’s Explosive Cowboy Bean Recipe: 

Serves 3-4. Double the ingredients below for 4people + (or to have leftovers).

- 2 Cups organic dried organic pinto beans

- 4 Cups Water

- 1 Cup Tomato passata 

- 1 x smoked ham hock (If doing a double recipe add in a pack of smoked ribs or 6 rashers of diced bacon

- 1x Spicy Pork Chorizo (Portuguese or Spanish)

- 1 diced white onion (or if you must… Spanish or brown)

- 5 big cloves of garlic, diced

- 1 strong cup of excellent coffee

- Handful of fresh oregano

- 1 x fresh jalapeno

- 1 teaspoon (or more) of peppercorns (whole)

- 1 teaspoon of Adobo/chipotle or habanero chili powder.

- 1 teaspoon of white pepper

- Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce (or any other excellent smoky bbq sauce you might love).

- Maple syrup

- Maldon Sea Salt.

1) If the dried beans need cleaning, clean them. Then soak beans in a good amount of water overnight. They should be more than covered. No metal bowls if possible.

2) In the morning, stir the beans about then rinse them twice.

3) Get the beans, ham hock, water and any other porky additions on a low boil on the stovetop.

4) Fry up the onion, garlic and chorizo, til the onion is translucent, add to pot.

5) Add tomato passata, coffee, oregano, peppercorns, chilli powder and jalapeno. 

6) Turn the stove down to a very, very low boil, barely a bubble. 

7) Let cook for 6 hours, stirring every hour. Keep checking the beans for softness. The beans should be soft to the bite, but NOT falling apart. If the beans are falling apart the recipe has failed.

8) Once you’ve got the beans to the right softness, add at least 2 x heaped teaspoons of sea salt, white pepper, and about half a cup of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce, and a couple slugs of maple syrup (not too much syrup). After you add these ingredients, your beans will not get too much softer.

9) Cook for 1-2 hours longer, with the lid off until you get to a thick soupy consistency.

Serve with either: Warm crusty bread with salted butter or a bowl of rice.

If desired, garnish with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, small amount of diced onion.

- If reheating leftovers, add a small amount of water before heating up.

{oh, jordan. you're the best manager ever. thank you. shadowboxers.....please make a thread??? xx afp}

.....

speaking of the shadowbox.....

things are bustling along BEAUTIFULLY over there.

if you haven't joined yet, please do.

tis the nicer side of the internet....

here are some screenshots of topics lately....

here's the link.....

https://forum.theshadowbox.net/

..........

OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT .....

RHIANNON GIDDENS, who i just collab'ed with on the new "it's a fire tune", is ON PATREON! support....

https://www.patreon.com/rhiannongiddens

.......

KT TUNSTALL is ON PATREON!!!! support her too. what a powerhouse.

SUDDENLY I SEE! yes, she wrote that.

https://www.patreon.com/KTTunstall

....

GEETA DAYAL....my old housemate, brilliant writer and journalist, is still plugging away on patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/geetadayal

......

RUBY WEDNESDAY.....many of you probably saw/met ruby when she played at my london pub gig..... 

and here's a photo of us performing together at my adelaide fringe ninja gig at the black cat last february.....

photo by missy husband

ruby has TAKEN THE DIVE ..she's ON PATREON NOW!!! go support a cabaret queen of utter grandeur:

https://www.patreon.com/mxrubywednesday

....

BADIUCAO....from china, if you want to support something amazing from further afield:

https://www.patreon.com/badiucao

https://twitter.com/badiucao/status/1243760240610250753?s=21

.........

THE ABORTION DIARY  / MELISSA MADERA

https://www.patreon.com/THEABORTIONDIARY

i'm sure you can imagine how i feel about this one. support, if you can.

.....

M.I.A.....has been running a robus patreon fro a while. she's pretty weird and the conspiracy stuff can sometimes get wild, but i'm in for a pound. why not:

https://www.patreon.com/mia

.....

STARTALK RADIO / Neil deGrasse Tyson!!!! NEED I SAY MORE?>???????

https://www.patreon.com/mxrubywednesday

....

NAFEEZ AHMED.....is a journalist i've been supporting for a while who makes REALLY insightful, indie content. may be for you???....

https://www.patreon.com/nafeez

.....

CHIARA AMBROSIO.....

you may remember chiara from the stop motion music video she made for evelyn evelyn ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pixkuUL9LgU )....

while she has a new project that's working on, the light emporium....

chiara has been making daily linocuts with dialog from her favorite poets. you can see the project here: https://linocutmonochords.wordpress.com

and purchase a linocut print on fabric of your own here: https://thelightemporium.bigcartel.com

(i love her.) 

......

ART BEGETTING ART 

this gorgeous painting by @caroloife .....very remeniscent of duchamp's "nude descending a staircase...." 

..."amanda oblitering a lockdown piano"? 

......

this gorgeous art by tattoo artist mike kemp @mkemptattooer  :

.....

this drawing by @apage_arts....

YUM.

.....

a lovely digital painting by @themightyinfernie .....

...

a dresden-dolls-astronaut-mash-up tattoo on @flickinger.laura ....

...

and this sweet offering based on a photo of me and ash from about three years ago.....by @aikenavalancheart

this one is special....it came from someone named niki, who i corresponaded with a little. i asked if i could share her story...and she sent this:

My name is Niki, my title is AT2 (AW), I am active duty in the United States Navy. I’ve been in the Navy since 2014 and in Japan since 2015, originally forward deployed with the HSM-51 Warlords, where I worked on MH-60R helicopters and went on 6 deployments in four years on 3 different ships, all either destroyers or cruisers. I’m originally from the Boston area, and before the Navy I worked as a jeweler/metalsmith/chalkboard mural artist.  

(And feel free to add in there that you’ve been a major inspiration for being a strong female creator/artist as well as in general, and that you’ve helped me through a lot of dark times in my life. It’s so so true. Always remember when a hater gets on you that you are helping tons of other people in really profound ways, it hurts me to think that people have been so nasty to you but just know (as I’m sure you do) that a lot of people love you and appreciate what you do so so much.)

well, damn.

yes. i fucking love you, niki. yes. thank you. art is a circle.

..............

this last one....OMG. cake.

"tea time" with amanda palmer by @thegourgandines

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCwUMbrIOIs

TEA TIME WITH... AMANDA FUCKING PALMER

All hail the DIY Queen! Amanda Fucking Palmer. The UFO of alternative music. Full-time artist always exploring new territories. That’s what we love about her : Plain. Utter. Unapologetic. Frankness. 

We’ve been listening to her latest album a lot lately. A quiet, sincere, piano-driven LP, full of compassionate lyrics

You’ll find no pop music here. No punk. No rock. This album doesn’t sound like anything she wrote before. It’s almost like hearing a confession whispered in a dark room. With all the cracks, the heavy breathing, the beautiful imperfections that makes it so much more than just a collection of songs.

 Amanda Palmer undresses her very soul in front of you. Yup, the album cover shows perfectly what you’re here for. (Oh and btw F*** Y** IG censorship) . As we were discovering this magnificent work, we were moved to see on social media Amanda was going through a particularly rough patch in her life. Is there a better remedy to cheer someone up than pie? We naturally rolled up our sleeves to bake this fruity peachy creamy comfort treat . Dear Miss Amanda Fucking Palmer, this tea time is for you.

...

I FUCKING LOVE YOU ALL.

AS LONG AS MY ALBUM ARTWORK IS BEING RE-CREATED WITH PEACHES, I THINK I CAN CONTINUE ALONG IN THIS VEIL OF TEARS.

sending big hugs to everyone.

please comment, i'm reading/we're reading.

x

a

------THE NEVER-ENDING AS ALWAYS---------

IF YOU'RE IN THE USA.....DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN THE NOVEMBER 2020 ELECTION. you can register to vote, find your local voter registration deadlines, update your voter registration, check that your registration is still on the books, find your polling place and other important election information HERE at http://headcount.org

and

1. if you’re a patron, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol.

2. see All the Things i've made so far on patreon: http://amandapalmer.net/patreon-things

3. JOIN THE SHADOWBOX COMMUNITY FORUM, find your people, and discuss everything: https://forum.theshadowbox.net/

4. new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff (at least up until a few years ago, this desperately needs updating) on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/

5. general AFP/patreon-related questions? ask away, someone will answer: patronhelp@amandapalmer.net