Opening Ceremonies:
Howdies from the Master of Toast and Chair Tyrant, free-form speeches from the Guests of
Honour. If we're as cuddly as we were the past two years, we'll likely include introductions
to a good crop of the audience as well. The Opening Ceremonies happen at 6pm on Thursday,
and lead in to the programming. Includes Michael Hemmingson, Larry McCaffery, Little Fyodor,
Lee Ballentine, T. Motley, and Jasmine Sailing. Time: Thursday, 6pm
The DE '01 Exquisite Corpse:
At the beginning of the convention an exquisite corpse (aka round robin) will begin
passing around to anyone who wishes to contribute a written section to it. If it fails to
find you on its own you can ask the staff where it is. Last DE the Corpse was illustrated
at the T. Motley of Hector-hosted Cartooning on Sunday. Pitch in, so it can happen again
this year! Time: Continuous, ask for it!
Unusual Episodes of Death Equinox Past:
An Open Forum for anyone who has tales to tell of their strange moments at previous
Death Equinox gatherings. There were the spirit visitations and interesting elevator
incidents at DE '97, the big bust (of a wedding!) and the endless cab ride at DE '98,
supposed possessions, auto-writing, Barbies, and, of course, little moments like when St.
Hemmingson was to be thugged and held down for a Buddy-Packering but resisted with the
Sacred Axe of Cnidaria. *cough* Includes Michael Hemmingson, Larry McCaffery, Lee
Ballentine, Gordon Klock, and Jasmine Sailing. Time: Thursday, 7pm
The Ritual for Rebirth:
The official DE ritual is held on the first night to ensure the success of the
gathering's magic for those who need it. What will happen there tends to be a strange
mystery. Expect frilly gowns and shackles, but don't be misled into believing there is a
dress code. Time: Thursday, 11pm
Whack 'n' Drool:
As Thursday night is traditionally the warm up and settle in time at Death Equinox,
this is a nice open opportunity for doing exactly that. Feel free to your floggers, your
favourite erotica artbooks, or whatever you feel like sharing. Might's well sink in and
wish you were having an orgy. Time: Thursday, midnight
Morbid Curiosity Open Mic:
This Open Mic has become a highly appreciated tradition. Several contributors to the
magazine will be telling improvised true stories about past morbid curiosity episodes in
their lives. And if other people want to come forward with their own experiences, they can.
Topic examples include: absinthe, Amsterdam, the aurora borealis, autoerotic stimulation,
black mass, cremation, Dachau, DMT, eating, insects, electrocution, endorphins, firewalking,
fossils, ghosts, graveyards, heroin withdrawals, Hill of Crosses, House of Death, mescaline,
mouldering goat skulls, mortuary science, necrophilia, parochial school, psychic vampirism,
self-mutilation, shrines, S/M film-making, tarantulas, thunderstorms, torture museums, and
zombie salmon. Moderated by Jasmine Sailing. Participants include Michael Hemmingson, Tim
Brown, Gene Santagada, Vanessa Loveless, and Bruce Young. Time: Friday, 3pm
Improvisational Poems:
Lee Ballentine will be on-hand with word stock (from descriptions of German discipline
videos, papal bulls, today's newspaper, etc), which he will let anyone who approaches him
choose from. He will then use the chosen text to create a poem on the spot, write it in
long-hand on a form, and give it to the chooser. This will be running for a couple of hours
and everyone is welcome to try him out. We would also like to have some of the poems still
floating around for the Cartooning Jam on Sunday. Time: Friday, 5pm
Page 27:
A live music performance by a noise ensemble whom have been around since 1994. They
incorporate a mixture of power electronics (korg electribe, roland dr. sample, etc) and
experimental modified toys (Speak & Spell, toy robots, various circut-bent consumer
electronics). Time: Friday, 8pm
Come Taste My Hand:
GOH Andi Olsen will present Come Taste My Hand, a video tribute to the queen of
postmodern piracy: Kathy Acker (1947-1997). In her novels, she pla(y)giarizes traditional
narratives, reconfigures them, and re-presents them so that we can re-view ourselves and
our world anew. This computer-generated video embodies her quest by appropriating images (a
radically manipulated clip from a 1997 documentary of Acker in Australia) and text (a
catechism about Acker where the questions appropriate and re-constitute chapter 17 from
Joyce’s Ulysses, and where the answers appropriate and re-constitute Acker’s own
words from her novel Blood and Guts in High School). The result explores the
emotional complexity of her journey as it moves from abstract expressionism to
hyper-realism, from anger to resigned acceptance. Time: Friday, 8:45pm, & Saturday, 4:50pm.
Winona Righteous:
A live music performance, with the accompaniment of Vanessa Loveless on theremin and
Fidget on bass. Winona even enchants the jaded heathens with her lovely trained voice, and
at times with her violin or piano as well. Though it may be purdy, don't expect just a bunch
of sweetness and light to exude from her. Time: Friday, 9:15pm
Little Fyodor:
Live music performance, accompanied by the infamous Babushka. Salt them slugs, and get
closer to God like a true blessed Idiot. Salt them slugs, and get closer to God like a true
blessed Idiot. Being the new Manson of DE, poor Little Fyodor was brutally forced into the
foul condition of annual traditionism. He speaks to us in ways we cringe and giggle at...
Time: Friday, 10:30pm
Literature in Cyber-Space: Hyper-Text and Electronic Fictions:
Cyber-Profs Olsen and McCaffery will discuss and present examples of new forms of
electronic fictions. Visuals and much talk included. This will be a long
presentation, so be sure to use the restroom first. Time: Saturday, 1:30pm
Auction:
The annual auction is held in support of Death Equinox. Veteran Guest Lee Ballentine, a
one-time street vendor with sales deeply imbedded in his blood, instinctively grabbed the
gavel at the first DE auction and then developed a habit of it. Previously he's initiated
the manic bidding wars over anything from rare Throbbing Gristle records to old Re-Search
issues to old punk band posters to books desecrated by their authors to odd historical and
occult relics. And each year the auction grows... Time: Saturday, 3pm
The Art of Andi Olsen:
Visual Depictionist GoH will present a slide show presentation of her oft freakish and
complex art. This will be coupled with a repeat showing of Come taste My Hand. Time:
Saturday, 4:50pm.
Avant-Porn 101:
Is it the new art form, or just the video product of madmen's fantasies? Join Larry
McCaffery, Michael Hemmingson, and Tara Raines for a brief history and philosophy of the
virtues of avant-porn, home porn gone awry! Video clips will be shown, and possibly live
demonstrations with audience participation. (Tsk, tsk, says the Chair Tyrant, on the record,
to the latter possibility. Take it to your hotel room!) Time: Saturday, 6pm
Changes:
An acoutic mini-concert by R. N. Taylor and Robert Ferbrache. Changes was a predecessor
to "folk-noir" type bands and, in the past smattering of years, has begun playing out and
releasing CDs again in various line-ups. Time: Saturday, 8:30pm
Cnidarian Worship:
Religious gospel and generally incohesive ramblings from The Blasted One and her High
Radiate-Initiates. Radiate-Initiate Reich will complete his gruelling ascent to Streethood
at these Sermons, and everyone should beware of the Sacred Axe wielding Cnidarians. Come
"mentally prepared" for the best enjoyment potential. Most of the Streets do, and I have to
say it's obvious. Visuals provided by St. Klock. Hosted by St. Sailing. Includes St. Young,
St. Yardley, St. Klock, St. Hemmingson, and... maybe Bud or Buddy? Time: Saturday, 10pm
Tribal Rhythmic Entrainment:
Esoteric music improvisation and primal break-down. Bring your click sticks, drums,
didjeridoos, rattles, pipes, etc. This particular event has been an all-nighter in the past,
and has been so much much that it's happened at every single Death Equinox. It falls at the
end of Saturday night's demonstrations of primal ecstasy, but unfortunately the fire needs
to stay outside. Time: Saturday, 11pm
Closing Ceremonies:
Everyone tells everyone to quit boozing, go home, and feel miserable for a week.
Formally, though. The Closing Ceremonies take place on Sunday evening. Dead dog programming
continues running afterward, but everything becomes considerably more entropic. Time:
Sunday, 6pm
Back to the DE '01 Programming options.