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| On The Road With The Beats: Five Beat Writers Who Changed The Industry Posted: 28 Apr 2013 05:06 PM PDT The Beat Generation was a unique cast of characters who convened at the Beat Hotel to create some of the most authentic and real poetry and prose that ever existed. The Beats wrote about real life as it happened. They were also infamous for their notorious lifestyles as well as their writings. Today we celebrate the forefathers of the Beat Generation. John Clellon Holmes Photo Credit: Wikipedia
(March 12, 1926 – March 30, 1988) Holmes was considered the author of the first “beat” novel “Go” in 1952. The novel featured his life events with such luminaries as Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and Allen Ginsberg. Considered Kerouac’s closest friend, Holmes traveled and documented their adventures. The word “beat” in the context of the writers happened when Jack Kerouac told Holmes “You know, this is really a beat generation.” and Holmes used it in an article published in The New York Times Magazine entitled “This Is the Beat Generation” on November 16, 1952. Holmes credited Kerouac with the term and in turn inspired the novel “Go”. Holmes wrote fourteen books of poems and essays before dying of cancer in 1988. Jack Kerouac
(March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969) As an American novelist and poet, Kerouac was best known for “On The Road”, a novel he completed in April 1951. The autobiography describes Kerouac and his friend Neal Cassady’s road trip across the United States and Mexico in the late 1940′s. The book also showed the relationship between Kerouac and other beat writers of that era. Kerouac also stated that the novel was, in part, a trip in search of god. He was arguably the most recognized of the beat writers. Allen Ginsberg
An American poet who was a leader of the Beat Generation in the 1950′s, Ginsberg opposed materialism and sexual repression. He was also vehemently against war. Ginsberg’s most famous work “Howl”, a poem about heterosexual and homosexual subject matter was innovative in the 1950′s. He also stated that “Howl” was “his unresolved emotions about his schizophrenic mother”. His last poem, “Things I’ll Not Do (Nostalgias)”, was written on March 30, 1997, days before he died. His final days were had by calling everyone in his address book and saying goodbye. William Burroughs Photo Credit: Wikipedia
(February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) Burroughs was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer in the Beat Generation. In 1943, he met Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg in New York City. These three men became the cornerstone of the Beat Generation. Best known for his third novel Naked Lunch (1959), which went to court against U.S. Sodomy Laws. On September 6, 1951 Burroughs accidentally shot and killed his wife, Joan Vollmer in a drunken game of ‘William Tell’ in Mexico City, Mexico. He spent thirteen days in jail until his brother bribed Mexican lawyers and officials to release Burroughs on bail while he awaited trial for the killing, which was ruled a culpable homicide. He would finally get off the hook by bribing witnesses to say it was accidental. Burroughs died on August 2, 1997, from complications of a heart attack he suffered that day in Lawrence, Kansas. Neal Cassady Photo Credit: Wikipedia
(February 8, 1926 – February 4, 1968) Cassady was a major figure of two pertinent groups. The Beat Generation of the 1950′s and Psychedelic Generation of the 1960′s. He met Ginsberg and Kerouac in 1947 at Columbia University. Cassiday and Ginsberg began a twenty year sexual relationship starting in the 1950′s. He began to move away from the beat philosophy around that time and started working at Southern Pacific Railroad. Cassady returned in the early 1960′s and joined the Merry Pranksters after meeting Ken Kesey in the summer of 1962. Cassady was immortalized in Tom Wolfe’s book “Kool-Aid Acid Test”. On February 3, 1968, Cassady was at a wedding reception in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. He left a party and began walking the railroad tracks to go home. Along the way he passed out in the cold wearing only a T-shirt and jeans. He was found the next morning and transported to a local hospital. He died a few hours later on February 4th, four days shy of his forty-second birthday. |
| More Countries You Have Never Heard Of Posted: 27 Apr 2013 02:07 AM PDT We looked a while ago at some of the world's largely unknown countries, such as Vanuatu and Tokealua. Well, as strange as it may seem, there are yet more countries out there which you probably haven't heard of either. Sealand Photo Credit: misterbisson via Flickr
I have to confess that I once lived a few hundred miles away from here without knowing anything about its existence. It has been called the smallest nation in the world and it is really an artificial fortress island the British built during WWII. The current occupiers claim that it is an independent state, though. It was once the home to a "pirate" radio station and these days it lies within UK waters. The Bates family own it and one of them even ended up in court for firing warning shot to a British vessel which approached Sealand. It is unlikely to be the scene of a gigantic battle for independence any time soon, as no more than 5 people are thought to live here at any one time. Suriname
Abhkazia
Palau Photo Credit: CasaDeQueso via Flickr We need to head over to the North Pacific Ocean for our next almost but not quite unknown country. It is called Palau and it is, quite frankly, a series of tiny islands. It is famous (or as famous as a little known country can be) for sharks, beaches and clear waters. If you have ever seen this place I am willing to bet it was on the Survivor TV series. San Marino Photo Credit: LANZATE via Flickr This is the 3rd smallest country in the world and it sits entirely inside Italy. It covers an area of 24 square miles and its constitution dates back to 1600. You can get to the centre of the city by cable car although there are no train stations or airports in San Marino. Most tourists visit on a day trip from nearby Rimini. The population is measured in tens of thousands and it was supposedly founded by a stonecutter fleeing from religious persecution. Bhutan Photo Credit: andreakw via Flickr Bhutan is a fascinating little Himalayan country which was effectively closed off to foreigners for centuries and which only fairly recently entered the modern age in terms of things like television and internet connection. It is a hugely expensive place to visit but the ancient Buddhist culture and welcoming locals are said to make it an unforgettable if weird tourist destination. Niue Photo Credit: fearlessRich via Flickr Being the world's first Wi-Fi nation is quite an achievement. Doing it in a country of 100 square miles and a population of 1,400 takes a tiny bit of the shine off it but, hey, free Wi-Fi in the South Pacific Ocean isn't to be sniffed at. |
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