Inutility
by
Clovis Siadwell, Archimandrite of the Unorthodox Assemblage, jpt Great Britain
Journal of Provincial Thought at the Hay Festival 2007
Well, cybersphere mavens, not since the early days of William S.Gibson and his script for Disney's Tron has the literary aether (we like to think of it as an interweb) been so aflame with discussion. Think of Occam's toothbrush, think Caxton's spoke shave, think Marconi's noodle. Yes, the jpt have been travelling the world, bringing our special brand of wall paper glue to the sad, illiterate mooses.
This May has marked the debut of the jpt at the Hay Festival, England's premier jazz festival. En route to the Chelsea Flower Show jpt paddled their star-spangled canoe up the lovely River Wye, to Richard Booth's Town of Books, and hosted a Grand Ole Opry style happening featuring some of our favourite Lit-Brits.
- (The Martian) C. Raine - A kebab under the Bumpo. Alan Bennett's debt to Fennimore Cooper and Ariana Stassinopoulos
- Peej O'Rourke - Brian Aldridge in Iraq. Neocon demagogue, Archer nemesis
- P. "Lickpenny" Ackroyd - The Kremlin's failure. Psychogeography and invasion plans
- P. Wonderbra Ayres - Thora Hird. Apostle of Aleister Crowley and Julie Newmar
- "Gavvie Greenthumb" (Diarmuid the telly gardener) - Sissinghurst Las Vegas style
- Grim Jim Ellroy - Sir John Betjeman, the Ripper's son
Swing-ing Hay is where Dylan Thomas, father of Bob, spent many happy days drinking and discussing gardening with his chum Herb Armstrong, before the 60s counter culture discovered Galsworthy's department store and realised that here, in the home of the Forsyte Saga, they could make a book-nest before the wheels dropped off their VW camper vans. The lush hydroponic leek plantations on Hay Bluff provided some of their finest produce for our special guests, whilst a special local beer, "Passed by Pigasus", lubricated our literary lips.
Our show tent featured a life-sized recreation of an environmentally friendly author's garret, information on methane powered typewriters, an ethical short story market and fashion show (featuring the Pigasus branded jpt logo) and kids' attractions like a mini bio-haiku workshop with Winsome Willy Self.
The Wurzels and their Alpenhorns performed a special set of My Chemical Romance and Sonic Youth show tunes to the enraptured audience in our Performance Yurt.
jpt won the Radio 4 award for "Best Newcomer in a Mini Series", and were featured on the PM blog-o-sphere, like everything else in modern Britain.
Hair Styling by Curl-up-and-Dye, Llanhilleth. Special thanks are due to the local organic Cyder and Perry producers for ensuring their products were kept in other venues.
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The Journal of Provincial Thought, shaded by the widespread, genial wings of Pigasus, the Flying Pig, brings you (old) news, revues, cures for the blues. It will titillate, titivate and tergiversate you, make you laugh, cry, gasp, leave the room in search of an unabridged thesaurus or a revived apatosaurus and a copy of Debrett’s Peerage. Join us every couple of months on the Web for a new issue of jpt, called in a recent Internet Equinologist “the freshest freshet of sparkling humor since Andy Borowitz’s fountain of joy burst forth on
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