For my last FortFest appearance, I gave a talk on some drawings by contactees that John Keel collected and circulated in the ’60s.  I posted most of it over on the Keel site.

The Doug and Mike mural was created for an exhibit called “Activated Walls,” at Artists Space in NYC, in 1993.  Mike and I used the opportunity to produce a large (16′ x 19′) flyer for our puppet show; smaller flyers can be seen in a box next to Russell.  Alison Mork drew Doug and Mike; I did the lettering and drew the other characters; and Josh White and Michael Smith contributed to the design and execution.  And we did perform the show in front of the mural several times as well.

Here, too, is one of the working drawings.

The Ullage Group deserves a mention on this site. Anthony Matt and I had contemplated forming a Fortean Society, along the lines of John Keel’s old group, and like those currently meeting in pubs in Dublin and Edinburgh. We finally opted for a semi-fortean group, and chose as our emblem “ullage,” a fine old word meaning the air at the top of a bottle, and a symbol of all that is marginal and liminal. Joined by Lisa Hirschfield, and sometimes by others, we’ve organized mini-conferences, and maintain a blog at www.ullagegroup.com.

So far, the Ullage Group has put on fifteen events, all at the Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn. They featured talks, music, a variety of audio-visual aids, and the ceremonial uncorking of an appropriate ullage.

1. Five Sides of a Machine (12/2/07). A demonstration of old projection devices, and a discussion of the methodology of assessing technology.

2. Microlithomania (5/18/08). Short talks on unusual stones. The title was inspired by John Michell’s book on megaliths, Megalithomania.

3. Through the Blackboard (9/28/08). Examinations of school, including lunch programs, classroom films, and more.

4. Medi-Vaudeville (4/19/09). Medicine, with a title taken from the book Charles Fort planned to write. There were medical songs, and a talk on quack ray devices. Dr. Mamie Caton joined us for a look at evidence-based medicine, and the difficulties of applying a scientific method to the human body.

5. Straight Talk About Hoaxes (10/11/09). Hoaxes, both intentional and accidental.

6. Pandora’s Music Box (1/24/10). We brought on every strange musical instrument we could find; and demonstrated toy instruments, gizmo harps, and the destruction of an electronic keyboard with a violet ray generator. Geoff Wiley joined us to make a washtub bass onstage.

7. Not Dirty, Just Spicy (5/16/10). Double entendre songs, burlesque sketches, and other cultural tidbits not quite obscene.

8. Remembering Keel (7/11/10). To mark the anniversary of John Keel’s death, we read from his works, and showed video interviews.

9. Marching to Utopia (9/26/10). Utopias, planned communities, and secret societies.

10. Unacceptable Flying Objects (5/8/11). UFOs, considered as a stigmatized social subject.

11. Long Island Beyond the Pale (4/22/12). Myths, legends, and conspiracy theories from Long Island.

12.  The Ullage Group Film Festival, Volume One (8/19/12). Short films and videos by Doug Skinner, John Keel, Anthony Matt, Morgan Miller, and Russ Johnson. Mark Newgarden also showed a reel of old shorts and commercials.

13.  The Ullage Group Presents Mark Pilkington (11/11/12). A talk by British writer Mark Pilkington, about his book Mirage Men.

14.  Peculiar Popularities (3/3/13). Obsolete fads: X-rays in pop culture, slang and artificial languages, pre-cinema spectacles.

15.  A Tribute to Les Blank (8/11/13). A screening of short films by Les Blank, with commentary by his sons Harrod and Beau.

For the 2006 UnConvention, the annual convention organized by the Fortean Times in London, I gave a talk on “Evolution and Pop Culture,” and presented a “Cabinet of Musical Curiosities.”  Here’s the line-up; I was in fine company..

“Dance #1” is a brief 8mm film I made for a performance in San Francisco, back in 1976.  It was made up of footage from home movies and from old silent movies.  I did a few films like this, but this was the only one to be screened.

Here’s what you saw:

1. water pouring into a glass bowl (color): 15″

2. a fight in a saloon (black & white): 5″

3. my mother in the kitchen (color): 15″

4. two seated women; a gun barrel lowers from overhead (black & white): 5″

5. water pouring into a glass bowl (color): 15″

6. a glass falls to the floor and shatters (color): 5″

7. two seated women; one passes her hand over her eyes, then screams (black & white): 15″

In 1976, I joined Michele Larsson for a performance by her nascent company Flywheel.  I had forgotten about it until I turned up this program.

One of my infrequent forays into serialism.  For another, look here.

In 2002, I gave a talk about John Keel and the Mothman Prophecies (with, I add, his blessing) at the Fortean Times UnConvention and at the FortFest held by the International Fortean Organization.  The idea was to drum up interest in the movie — and, more particularly, the book.  Dave Singer has posted the INFO version here.

A melancholy round, based on a traditional quatrain.

For the 1996 FortFest, the annual gathering of the International Fortean Organization, I delivered a talk on John Dee, that intriguing Elizabethan polymath.  I had already composed and performed a song cycle based on Dee’s dream diary; so when Phyllis Benjamin, the head of INFO, suggested a Dee talk, I took his dreams as a framing device.  Each dream generated a mock interpretation, which then bloomed into a consideration of one part of his life.

Here’s the first page: