The State of All Things: September 10th, 2021 (Patreon)

Here's what's in this month's Althing roundup:

• WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO THIS MONTH....and a recipe for seed bread :)
• PROJECTS RELEASED THIS MONTH
• WHAT'S COMIN' DOWN THE PIKE (+ an ask for "readers" for the new podcast!)
• DISPATCHES FROM THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLES OF TEAM AFP
• HOW THE PATREON ITSELF IS DOING
• OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT
• ART BEGETTING ART

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And QUICK before I ferget, for the $10 webchat patrons, I've scheduled a webchat/Ask Me Anything for TOMORROW,  my morning!!! This one will be a marathon because I have the whole morning FREeeeeEEEeee and I'm lonely, because, hey, lockdown......so get fucking ready for a long one, and poems, and random ukulele songs, and tears. 

I'm already in the chat and will be keeping an eye on it until my morning. I'll send all you $10 people a reminder in my morning.

It'll run at LEAST 8am-10am on Saturday, Sept 11th, NEW ZEALAND TIME. That's 3 pm Sept 10th for NYC, and 9 pm for you Londoners. If you just click the webchat, it'll show you the local starting time like magic, because the internet is amazing.

Here's the link, go RSVP and start leaving me ideas and questions in the question box:

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/patron-webchat-new

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SPEAKING OF....if you missed the last $10+ webchat it was a great one, lots of feels were shared, and you can watch the archive HERE: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/patron-webchat-aug1221

There are a whole load of patrons who came up and shared poems, shared stories, and shared them....selves. The webchats are getting better and better and more human as we all get to know each other. I am loving it, especially from my lonely island perch. Being able to talk to just a handful of people at a time is really soul-nourishing.

.........

OK now.

WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO THIS LAST MONTH or so:

I managed to get to a recording studio for the first time in MONTHS.

It felt so good.

I did a little in-studio webcast for ALL PATRONS from the recording studio the first day, you can still watch it back here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/all-patron-stream-live 

I recorded a special duet with kiwi indie rocker Reb Fountain (listen to one of her best new mellow-tastic songs HERE) that will be headed your way later this month as part of a pro-choice charity project called Do Re #MeToo..... more on that soon.

As I mentioned in the video...there's a possible complication with putting this masterpiece out to The Public, so you patrons might wind up with a gem that nodboy else can ever see. I love the patreon. 

NOTHING EVER GETS THROWN AWAY!!!!!!!!!

I also recorded a guest vocal for one of my favorite bands. More on that later.

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And other than that...... New Zealand went into another hard lockdown on August 18th. So I've mostly been at home entertaining and nourishing Ash.

There has been a lot of Cluedo. Like, a LOT.

hey amanda, it is alex here, the game is famously called clue in america, but in the uk it's called cluedo. isn't it fascinating to know that new zealand uses the uk name instead of the us name!!

or maybe whoever this game belongs to got it from the uk.

also did you know why the name changed?

apparently nobody really knows!!

cluedo existed first and then when they sold it to the manufacturer in the US they changed the name to clue.

the best answer i could find on google is this:

"Cluedo" is a pun on the traditional game "Ludo" (which is also Latin for "I play"); mixed with the word Clue for the murder mystery element. So it's saying Murder Mystery Boardgame in one word. I believe Ludo is not well known in the USA, thus as the pun would not be understood, Parker Brothers probably decided to just call it Clue for marketing reasons.

how exciting!!!!

okay i'll let you get back to your althing now.

.....uhhhh....thanks Alex.

I HAD NO CLUEDO.

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Ash and I have also been spending a lot of time out on the beach, walking up and down and up and down the coast, gathering shells and looking in the rockpools.

Ash also just lost a tooth. His third. 

He lost the bottom middle two front ones in December, just before Neil came back from their nine-month separation. It was sad that Neil missed the teeth coming out, so it's nice that he's here for this round. And as soon as front tooth #1 came out, front tooth #2 got wiggly. So soon he's gonna have no front teeth and it's gonna be cute as FUCK!!

I started a ritual during the last bout of tooth=loosing. The tooth fairy is an available pen pal if you leave her a note in the special box under your pillow. So Ash has been writing regular notes to the tooth dfairy, and she mostly answers in her eclectic style, chatting about her castle/palace made of TEETH and how she is really into oral hygiene.

Neil finally got to write a tooth fairy note and he did not disappoint.

Here's some more of my fave photos from this past last lockdown week....

Ash on the beach....

Neil trying to capture the sunset...

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Jherek Bischoff - my beloved friend, arranger, and BASS PLAYER - was driving around,, and this happened on his phone so he had to screenshot and send it.

It's US! A Bass Line, LOST, and an Ampersand...!

I miss him. If you haven't been following along, he composed the music for Neil's "Ocean at the End of the Lane" show for the West End in London and it's just some of the most gorgeous shit you've ever heard. He just sent the whole soundtrack to his patrons, so it's a good reason to go support him.

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Ash, climbing.

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I did some graffiti near the beach. 

This is how I do graffiti.

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WINNING LOCKDOWN RECIPE THIS WEEK:

I was baking and eating too much old-skoool banana bread as lockdown wore on and on....and it was starting to make me fat and listless. 

It had to stop.

So I switched to baking seed bread, and I FUCKING LOVE IT.

Its VEGAN!!!!!!! But you can butter this shit up and it's delicious. 

And...if you wanna sweeten it up, you can add a couple bananas and a few extra spoonfuls of maple syrup. You could add ANYTHING to this bread. Root veg, fruit, berries, other nuts, chocolate chips...I mean, go crazy. It's a palate.

The seed ingredients can be pricey, but the bread is super dense, freezeable, and lasts a while. AND IT TAKES LITERALLY LIKE TEN MINUTES TO PREP. AND HARD TO RUIN. Don't forget to leave a few hours for it to "set".

Trust mama. 

It's amazing:

https://food52.com/recipes/28886-my-new-roots-life-changing-loaf-of-bread

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BOUTIQUE MERCH UPDATE.....

In other realms of Team AFP, we've restocked some boutique merch, lovingly handmade by members of the community.....

You can find it in the US store, the UK store (both shipping worldwide!!), or read more about the items and the creators here. I am so grateful to our Merch Queen Alex for doing such a beautiful job with all this stuff. I've always fantasized about having a little merch boutique and we are finally DOING IT!!!!

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I'm in a "HALLELUJAH" DOCUMENTARY...

It goes like this. 

The fourth. The fifth.

I am so honored to have taken part in this new documentary - newly premiered at Venice Film Festival - about one of the most beautiful songs ever written...a song that still brings me to tears during the last verse pretty much every time I cover it.

I'm even prouder to be speaking and singing alongside fellow singer/songwriters Rufus Wainwright, Brandi Carlile, Judy Collins, Eric Church and one of my pals, fave songwriters and old-school tour-mates, Regina Spektor.

John Cale, of the Velvet Undergournd, did the cover that cover that you probably now know as the "definitive" version.

Jeff Buckley's version of it also brings me to tears.

Here's the "Hallelujah" that I once sang for Anthony when he was dying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT2kTbw70Q4

If you know of a great version, share it in the comments.....

You can never have too much Hallelujah.

Music is everything.

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And…. a quick PUZZLE update!!

We’ve been talking about the art-in-the-mail puzzles for a good few months now. They got held up at the customs office while we sent a LOT of very tedious and bureaucratic emails back and forth requesting and supplying documentation…

BUT the good news is they have now been RELEASED, and should be landing at the merch warehouse any day now!!!!!!!!!

Which means that if you’re in the $25 tier or above and you opted in for the puzzle back in may, YOU CAN EXPECT PUZZLE TITS ON YOUR DOORSTEP VERY, VERY SOON.

PRAY TO THE PUZZLE LORDS!!!!

....and for all other patrons: this is the very first art in the mail that we’re going to be PUTTING UP FOR SALE TO ALL PATRONS!!!

Art-in-the-mail patrons, you’ll be getting a super special fancy art card with a letter signed by me. 

The standard puzzle (without the fancy signed art card) is gonna be up for sale exclusively to patrons....soon.

We’re gonna give it a few weeks so the art in the mail folks can get theirs, and have a good ol’ time putting my boobs together, but then we will shout from the rooftops when the puzzle is up for sale.

We only printed a limited number of puzzles (we started this process in FEBRUARY, that’s how long it’s taken to get everything turned around) so this is all we have, and once they’re gone, they’re gone, so be quick about it!!! 

We made about 1,000.

……

PROJECTS RELEASED THIS MONTH:

The State of Althings - August 4th 2021 

Our monthly round-up was slightly delayed from July... but you can catch up if your heart so desires.

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The Couch of Truth: Episodes 2-5 

After the first Couch of Truth episode went out in July, I did a poll and you guys were OVERWHELMINGLY in favour of Thinging every episode of the series, so... that's what we did.

The whole 5-episode series is up now, you can see the full playlist here on YouTube, or here on Vimeo if that's your jam. 

The individual posts for each episode also contain a whole load of beautiful comments from the community.

I said this almost every week as we put them out, but I am so proud of this community for connecting, for sharing, and for being willing to fund this kind of weird shit. It's so un-commercial, but also so necessary.

Episode 2 - Miscarriage: Where Is The Hallmark Card? 

Episode 3 - Grief: And It's Going To Hurt 

Episode 4 - Abortion: Three Stories 

Episode 5 - Having A Kid... Or Not: Two Stories About Being Okay 

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WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIKE:

Do Re #MeToo

You might remember a while ago I asked about the most sexist songs you know.... well, SURPRISE, this is what it was for, and it'll be coming out in a couple weeks.

I collaborated on it with Reb Fountain, see above.....and we CRUSHED IT.

The event itself will be happening as a livestream event on Crowdcast on September 23rd at 9pm ET, you can get tickets at http://doremetoo.com or http://aafront.org/DRMT 

We'll be releasing the song itself here on Patreon shortly after, so keep your eyes peeled for that if you can't make the livestream.

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The Upcoming Abortion podcast - GET INVOLVED!

WE LITERALLY NEED YOUR VOICE!!!

PATRONS! The Great Abortion Podcast Series is almost upon us!

YES! FINALLY! It feels like we’ve been talking about this for months (we have) but the bulk of the work is done. 

Interviews, research, scripting, recording and ninja ukulele breaks are all in the can and while we’ve spoken to some incredible people, there’s another voice we need. Yours

If you’ve been reading the Althing updates, you’ll have seen how this project has grown from a single episode to a sprawling trilogy. We wanted to include as much information as possible about reproductive rights across the globe because in case you didn’t know it, they’re under immediate threat. 

BECAUSE OF THE PATREON, we have 100% freedom to allow big, important projects like this to grow. Because of you and your funding. 

So it’s only proper you get the chance to participate in one of the biggest calls to action we’ve made for a while....

Attached to this post as a pdf are extracts from Laura Kaplan’s book ‘The Story of Jane’....

It's an incredibl read, I read it just before embarking on the "There Will Be No Intermission" tour .... it's a stunning account of a group of women in late sixties Chicago who revolutionized abortion access by bypassing gatekeepers. 

Literally. Underground shit. It's wonderful and terrifying, as back to the underground we go.

It’s inspiring and many of their help-methods are still used today.

If you’d like to participate, record yourself reading the extracts we’ve selected and send the audio file to afppod@gmail.com. 

Make sure to include your name and where you’re from. Everyone is welcome and you will of course receive a shoutout in the credits for the show. 

The DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS ONE WEEK FROM TODAY.

If you have any issues accessing the file, or are confused about recording, or have any more questions, you can also reach out to either afppod@gmail.com or as always patronhelp@amandapalmer.net.

Let’s hear you SPEAK. 

This one is gonna be good.

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Waiheke SMALL HALL show filming.....

We filmed my two shows at Morra Hall a few weeks back, featuring the beautiful talents of Princess Chelsea and Constance Maraj.....

Here are some photos from those shows, all by Xander Charity...

The video is currently being edited and reviewed, and FINGERS CROSSED will be coming out later this month. 

PRAY FOR THAT TOO!!!

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And, of course, the eternal list of bubbling-away projects on the backburner...

• The Look Mummy, No Hands music video & documentary....
• Tasmania Confession Booth documentary...
• Michael Dunaway's documentary from the There Will Be No Intermission tour...

AND and and.

Mama is in lockdown.

It'll all have to wait.

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DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP.....

Michael McComiskey, my brave assistant in NYC.

Hello Patrons,

I am taking a page out of Amanda’s book and currently taking a brief vacation as an early birthday celebration so I don’t have much to add at the moment.  I hope you are all well and enjoying this transition of the seasons whichever hemisphere you happen to be in.

I apologize for the lack of a full update, but in lieu of that, here’s a vacation picture I took the other day as the sun was setting and the tide was coming in.

All the hugs as always,

Michael

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Jordan, my Sydney-based Manager Extraordinaire.

Dear Patrons,

Greetings from day 75 of Sydney Lockdown. I think I have now truly come to understand what lockdown life has been like for the rest of the world... Although it's still ONLY 75 days, it sure feels like a long time.

The days are still crazy busy with work, but this lockdown thing gives me three things to battle daily:

- Torpor

- Malaise

- Ennui

It's funny how those words just bubbled to the surface! Today, we got the good news that as of approximately mid October, when NSW (the State I live in) hits 70% vaccination, we will go out of lockdown. For the double vaccinated only. I am already planning the party. The invites and ideas are flowing. Today is a good day. We're about one week out of winter, and Sydney has clocked up a temperature of 82.4 fahrenheit / 28 Celsius. It's going to be back to the beach soon, and I cannot wait.

It's been an exercise in compassion, this lockdown. 

I have never felt like I've had it more cushy and also so restricted. There's a lot of dichotomies everywhere I look. All I can do is practice compassion, and continue to give as much as I can to those that I love and to the world at large. The story continues to unfold.

As I am kind of in Groundhog Day land, that's about it from me this month, but I can let you know that we have a lot of exciting upcoming Patreon releases in the works for you. And also, next month there will be some news. This picture holds a clue as to what it might entail:

That's me & the new family dog we got on June 26th... The day we entered lockdown... Yes! Lockdown Puppy!

As for the good stuff... And it's all Aussie:

Listening to...

The new album: Timeslips by Sydney based Electronic/Ambient/Jazz/Improv outfit, Tangents. *** Interesting fact, this group features Peter Hollo, the cellist in FourPlay String Quartet who are musical collaborators w/ Mr Neil Gaiman. More news on that one later....

Reading...

Simon Hanselmann - From Launceston in Tasmania, and now residing in Seattle... Simon's career has been rocketing stratospherically the last few years. Hanselmann's Megg, Mog and Owl series has struck a chord internationally and his comics have been bestsellers across the globe. *** If you are scared of cross-dressing, weird sex, copious drug use, profanity or werewolves... do not click the link I sent. Do not read Simon's work. It's all that AND MORE.

Support...

My son Kira and his friend's mullet brigade. As I am sure we all know, in and out of lockdown there's a lot of mental health issues at stake in this world we live in. We've all felt it. I am very (very) lucky my son's mental health is pretty darn solid, but he and his friends are doing their part to raise funds to support The Black Dog Foundation, which is an Australian organisation which provides all types of resources, help and research into mental health.

Here's where you can donate:

https://www.teamblackdog.org.au/fundraisers/kiraverzar/mulletsformentalhealth

....and view my son and his friends mullets. Personally, I feel the concept of mullet and mohawk has been mixed up in quite a few of these efforts, but hey! Everything's open to interpretation when you are 16.

Anything would help. Thank you for your consideration...

Jordan.

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Alex Knight, Merch Queen and Post Architect

August, August, August...

You know that Taylor Swift song, "August slipped away like a moment in time?"

Maybe you don't. I'm not sure what the AFP/Taylor Swift venn diagram looks like. 

It's a nice song though.

Anyway, I've sat down to write my piece for this month, and...... I honestly, genuinely, have very little recollection of a single thing that happened that I can report back on. 

I guess it happened.

I've answered some emails, I've put some blog posts together for Amanda, I've packed some merch. I've started prepping tour merch for a tour that I'm starting later in September with Grace Petrie. And I've  been to a couple of family gatherings. 

I guess instead I will just leave you with a music recommendation...

Halsey's new album "If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power" has truly blown me away. I really loved her last album Manic, and how it dealt with self-criticism, mental health, and queer love. This one might have surpassed that one, if only because the production from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross has just elevated the sound so much. It twists between atmospheric cinematic pop through to outright grungey punk through to drum and bass, but somehow the production makes it feel consistent and a real treat for the ears. 

So that's me for the month. 

See you on the other side, and maybe September will hold more exciting things for us!

-Alex

xo

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Kelly Welles, podcast assistant and general helper-er

Hey lovelies!

August. That certainly happened, didn’t it? When I sat down to write this, I want to tell you about what I’ve been doing apart from thinking about abortion and realised immediately that was going to be hard given what’s just happened in Texas. But let’s put a pin in that for now.

Being a member of Team AFP on a practical level means thinking in time zones. I found this murderously confusing at first - as the rest of the team will testify - but once you get used to it, you feel an inexplicable connection to events in those places.

The perpetual COVID lockdown in Australia, which Jordan is riding with aplomb.

Snap lockdown in New Zealand after months of what looked, to most of us, like utopia. Snatching moments of Ash time from Amanda to approve scripts and images for the podcast.

Floods in New York. The social media images I saw were swiftly augmented by Fannie, who told me stories of acquaintances who’d literally had to paddle the streets to get home.

If you’ve read any of my writing you’ll know I’m pretty cynical about living in the UK, but I’m counting my blessings after all this. Some of you reading might have been living through those things too, or other equally awful events in your own lives. I’m sending love to everyone who needs it, you’re in my thoughts.

It’s good to see the country opening up again. The English football season has started with fans in the stands, a couple of my friends had outstanding shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and the Reading/Leeds festival went ahead. Despite being double jabbed, I’m still nervous about unmasked crowds so haven’t been ‘out’ out yet, but I have some plans. We’ll see.

Below are a couple of pieces of high art I absorbed in August.

ALBUM: All Hands On The Bad One, Sleater Kinney.

Sleater Kinney taught me feminism. This record mainly but not exclusively. Still makes my pulse race.

MOVIE: Cabaret. I watched it again after a podcast recording session. Spent the next three days trying to find some green nail varnish.

BOOK: Wuthering Heights. Accidentally bought a set of Bronte sisters' books because the box and book art were beautiful.

Take care of yourselves. I can’t wait for you to hear those podcasts.

Kelly.

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To my entire team....I have no words, as usual.

My gratitude is deep and profound for every one of you.

Thank you for keeping everything afloat while the world keeps falling apart.

-AFP.

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Here is a picture I took four days ago of the TINIEST RAINBOW EVER.

Do you see it?

It's SO SMALL.

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HOW THE PATRON ITSELF IS DOING. 

Some of this is a repeat from last month, but please read it if you're new.

As of this writing there are about 12,228 patrons pledging about $40,631 for the first Thing each month.

The patreon stats are, if you've been following, generally going DOWN by a few hundred patrons and a few thousand bucks every month. We are slowing, but not precipitously. 

I'm not too worried, and as long as we make enough each month to keep the lights on, the staff, paid, the bills paid, the rent paid...we're okay.

I go over this stuff in every Althing, but if you're new to all this: patreon charges you monthly & retroactively, meaning that you get billed on the 1st of the month for all the Things released the month prior.

Because people have their pledges capped (HOW MANY TIMES CAN I SAY THIS....if you are on a budget, you should cap your pledge please: here's the tutorial again), the first "Thing" raises the most money by far, and anything released thereafter raises less and less. I LIKE THIS! THIS IS GOOD! It means I never feel too guilty!!!!!. So really. Please, cap your pledge if you are on a budget.

The numbers below are gross. 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, paying for crowdcast, 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.

We now have the numbers in from JULY.

Back in July, I Thanged just one Thing:

The Couch of Truth: Episode One, which earned about $47,021 from 12,619 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.

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OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT

Sewing school in Afghanistan

Maybe this is a loose definition of "artist", but aren't we all artists? And fuck it, these people need as much help as we can get them.

You might remember I posted about this on Patreon a couple of weeks ago and encouraged you to donate. The organiser emailed me the following after I posted their site on the patreon last week:

Amanda, we are hoping to reopen the sewing school again. We are taking it slow. The teachers and I are discussing starting with just one or two students and see what happens , but it is still a risk for them, so… not really sure yet.
     
We are preparing to do another food drive for our 31 families. This time sending vegetables, chicken, beans, charcoal (they use it for heating) , more rice, women’s feminine hygiene products and a small piece of candy for each child.  

We are able to do this next food drive because you touched the hearts of your followers with your post! Thanks just doesn’t seem enough!

Wow. I'm so goddamn proud of this community, always. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED.

If you want to donate, the GoFundMe is still open:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/sharingwithrefugees 

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The Ocean At The End of the Lane in London

Yes, the novel based on a book by a certain someone is headed to the West End in London.

The show played at the National Theatre back in 2019, and was so successful that they transferred it to a full run at the Duke of York's Theatre.

Performances start October 23rd, and run til February 12th 2022. I'd really recommend getting tickets if you can and if it feels safe for you. 

We saw the original show, and it is STUNNING.

And as an added bonus - the music is composed by everyone's favourite Jherek Bischoff. He's releasing the soundtrack to his patrons bit by bit, and just uploaded the first part last week. And, of course, it's gorgeous.

Go support Jherek if you want to hear the soundtrack, or if you just want to support beautiful orchestral music existing in the world.

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FLASHBACK CONTEXT TIME:....aurie is one of my long-time allies. I accompanied Laurie to the White House Correspondents' Dinner back in 2019...

... and we put out a weird podcast/audio diary clip, back when I was still figuring out what form my official podcast would take.

I've pimped Laurie endlesslessy here on patreon, and she's LEAVING PATREON FOR SUBSTACK, where she will be trying to make her living as a journalist using crowdfunding. And you know what? THAT IS AWESOME!

Substack is basically patreon for writers. It's a simple, subscription newsletter. Unlike patreon, you can have a "free" tier, where your readers get your missives, and then you can charge for higher tiers of access and content.

I think substack is a probably a better place for writers who "just" write. I support a large handful of writers over there (I read Heather Cox Richardson's daily substack posts religiously).

So a general ask.....IF YOU ARE INTO PATRONIZING ARTISTS AND WRITERS...GET A SUBSTACK ACCOUNT. JUST DO IT.

OK?

OK.

Here is the link to Laurie's Substack.

If you want a few other writers to get strated (don't forget, it's FREE).... here are three other writers I support on Substack:

Patti Smith (yes, THAT Patti Smith!!!)
Lauren Wolfe
Jen Deaderick

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I also promised to plug our own Fleassy Malay on Patreon this month!!!

Fleassy came up during the webcast last month and read us a truly gorgeous poem called "Hiraeth", about home, and what the concept of home even means....and yes, we cried.

Go check out her work and support her on patreon.

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und finally...

Nina Diaz, formerly of Girl In A Coma, has officially disbanded the project and launched a new Patreon for her solo work.

Super excited to see what comes from this.

She's just getting started and has about 100 patrons, so let's go fill her cup.

https://www.patreon.com/ninadiazsolo

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ONE thing that may not need plugging, but what the hell....

LORDE, whose songwriting I deeply love, just released a new record called SOLAR POWER, and yesterday she dropped an EP - Te Ao Mārama - of five songs from the Solar Power record sung in Te Reo Māori.

I cannot tell you how fucking bad-ass that is.

So even if you don't love Lorde or the new record, just take a moment to be in awe of her awesome brain.

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ART BEGETTING ART....

From @ekklesiamortis on twitter...

Swoon.

Submitted via email by Steven Wind (@stevenrobertwind on Instagram)...

Here's one from RyanBestArt....

AND....don't forget, you can always send us art to art@amandapalmer.net. 

We love seeing it ALL. Art you made. Lyrics you knit. Tattoos you get. The Dresden Dolls showing up in your toast. Whatever.

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AND last but not least....here's the poem I read on the video, if you want it in text form.

Along with my fave picture of its author, Wislawa Symborska:

A Few Words on the Soul

(Translated from the Polish by Stanisław Barańczak and Clare Cavanagh.)

We have a soul at times.
No one’s got it non-stop,
for keeps.

Day after day,
year after year
may pass without it.

Sometimes
it will settle for awhile
only in childhood’s fears and raptures.
Sometimes only in astonishment
that we are old.

It rarely lends a hand
in uphill tasks,
like moving furniture,
or lifting luggage,
or going miles in shoes that pinch.

It usually steps out
whenever meat needs chopping
or forms have to be filled.

For every thousand conversations
it participates in one,
if even that,
since it prefers silence.

Just when our body goes from ache to pain,
it slips off-duty.

It’s picky:
it doesn’t like seeing us in crowds,
our hustling for a dubious advantage
and creaky machinations make it sick.

Joy and sorrow
aren’t two different feelings for it.
It attends us
only when the two are joined.

We can count on it
when we’re sure of nothing
and curious about everything.

Among the material objects
it favors clocks with pendulums
and mirrors, which keep on working
even when no one is looking.

It won’t say where it comes from
or when it’s taking off again,
though it’s clearly expecting such questions.

We need it
but apparently
it needs us
for some reason too.

Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012), born in Bnin, Poland, was the author of over fifteen books of poetry and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996. Her Miracle Fair: Selected Poems of Wisława Szymborska was published by W. W. Norton & Co in 2001. 

She died in February 2012 in Krakow.

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

I LOVE YOU ALL.

Thank you for being here with me.

It's a slow season.

As it should be.

xxx

AFP

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

1. if you are a patron and new to my work, don’t forget your patronage allows you access to ALL of my patreon releases to date. HERE is the link to download my latest big solo record, “There Will Be No Intermission”, and HERE is a link to download the PDF of the art/essay book that goes with it.

2. if you’re a patron reading this post via an email notification, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol. that's always nice for me to see, so i know who's reading.

3. see All the Things (over 150 of them) i've made so far on patreon:

http://amandapalmer.net/things

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

5. 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/

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