The Source

A film by Chuck Workman

When Jack Keroauc, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs met at Columbia University in 1940’s, they spawned a movement, then called the Beats, that set precedents for the political, hippie and spiritual movements of the 1960’s and ’70s. This comprehensive portrait of the Beat Generation icludes interviews with virtually every surviving figure from this period.

This documentary came out in 2000. Available on DVD at Amazon

The Last Beat

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CORSO – THE LAST BEAT”
The “Beats” are back. Ever “cool”, ever “hip”, this poignant, humorous film will introduce today’s youth market to the inner circle of the American Icons of “the Beat Generation” – Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs and Gregory Corso. “The Last Beat” follows Corso, the most colorful of them. After the death of Allen Ginsberg, his best friend, Corso goes “On the Road” to rediscover himself as the “Last Beat.” … A classic “road movie” is crafted from outstanding documentary work, combined with pacing and entertainment value from the filmmaker’s experiences as a “Miami Vice” contributor and “Crime Story” co-creator (NBC and Michael Mann)… In his “road movie”, Corso travels from France, to Italy, to Greece, retracing the early days of “The Beats.” In high humor he dramatizes how they changed American society, paving the way for youth culture, the sexual revolution and even hip-hop… In an “on the road” discovery, the filmmaker found Corso’s Italian mother who abandoned him as a baby. They are reunited on film… Corso also amazes by visiting prison inmates at Clinton Prison, where at age 17 he was encouraged by Italian mafia prisoners to educate himself. (He ended up at Harvard later.)… After his European odyssey, a revitalized Corso returns to Greenwich Village to work again… Then, in ultimate irony, Corso faces his own mortality with humor and pluck, comforted by Ethan Hawke, Patti Smith and his newfound mother, Michelina.

MCT goes USA – scouting

The technical university Howest – departement PIH – MCT Multimedia and Communication Technology Belgium is leaving on scouting to San Francisco this weekend.

This year Stanford University, Cisco, Adobe, Intel will be hunted to welcome like 100 students. Tourist visits are also on the agenda, like Alcatraz, the golden gate – presidio and the downtown area.

A complete overview will be published soon!

Morning in Fog City

At daybreak, the fog below is a stormy, swirling plain. The sun rises, the fog breaks, and the waters of the bay appear, the outlines of the islands and the headlands, sheaves of skyscrapers. Dew drips from the pines, hummingbirds can be heard whirring in the bushes by the window. The traffic on the roads and bridges increases, a glimmering multitude of microscopic points. Then I, too, join everyone rushing in pursuit of their goals and I become part of the great operation.

Entering ChinaTown and financial district

When you start walking on Columbus Avenue, you will find the Transamerica building, it is also a beautiful landmark of San Francisco, giving the skyline that specific touch. When entering from the Bay Bridge it is spectacular.

While walking up to Columbus Avenue, you will also cross the entrance of Chinatown, this mural painting has been completly repainted with the respect that it deserves, and this is always kind of reference point.

This quarter North Beach, ChinaTown Financial district, touches eachother at a certain point, and slowly your views are changing, this was also the quarter where the beats hang out, you will also find the City Light Bookstore here!

Golden Gate Bridge

I like to go to the bridge in the late afternoon. Especially when the sun is shining in the afternoon. Usually around noon the morning fog is gone and there is clear blue sky.

It is a nice walking area, and san franciscans like to walk their dog, and watch the whales go by in the season.

Around 4PM, the fog is entering from the mountains. The fog folding over the bridge covering slowly the City. Amazing. In no time it gets pretty cold, and the fog is like a blanket going all the way down to Berkeley, where it goes into nowhere and disappears.

The fog gives the city a very mysterious look, with the small streets and the park areas all covered. Friends told me it gets quiet depressive after a while if you live in the hills of San Francisco. I think I can believe that, but for me it is still an amazing nature phenomenon.

Thanksgiving prayer by William Burroughs

A great testimonial! There are little details and very subtle sentences, you should listen to. This was 1986, now we are 2007, problems are a bit different now, but still very resembling….

Mondo 2000

Mondo 2000 a cyberpunk magazine during the 1980’s and ’90’s, published in California. The magazine was the pre Wired magazine, writing about Virtual Reality and Smart drugs. The covers were beautiful photoshop collages, special design. I visited the Mondo 2000 offices in the last days in Berkely. They had their little office there, and the guy gave me a few issues of the Mondo 2000 magazine. Including the publication ‘A users’s guide to the new edge Rudy Rucker R.U. Sirius’ . Mondo 2000, is also a subculture reflecting on technology and experiences with virtual reality. In San Francisco were the parties organized by Mondo 2000. A booming industry just before the bubble…I guess those rich times will never come back..

For those interested in this period, you should also read Cyberia by Douglas Rushkoff.

Imperial San Francisco

by Gray Brechin.When I heard an interview on this, I bought the book. It was enlightining to read how the city was built. A grip out of the introduction on the family De Young’s. They built De Young musuem in the golden gate park in the year 1895. The Museum of Fine Art. They founded the Daily dramatic Chronicle( (1865), De Youngs controlled the newspaper until 2000, and then was taking over by Hearst Communication Inc.The city was built by capitalism, and ruined a lot of land in getting what it has now. Mainly trough family capital, and financing by banks. Clearly media and communication always played a big role in this history. While families worked together to reign the city.Trough time the Berkeley University was built (1868), by 1930 Berkeley University established itself as a premier research university, and capitalism relied on the intellectuals to provide managers and engineers for their Pacific Imperium.

San Francisco Modern Art Musuem

The musuem of Modern Art has a beautiful architecture, and a very nice art shop! This year there were even rings for sale from Georges Larondelle, a Belgian artist!

As in every museum there is a permanent exhibition and temporary exhibitions. Located in the renewed area Yerba Buena cloe to the Moscone center.